Judge lifts ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1

It seems Judge Lucy Koh has had a change of heart and is lifting the ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the United States. The Judge had granted the preliminary injunction to Apple in June based on the likelihood that a jury would find that a specific Apple design patent had been infringed. As it turned out this was the only product they felt Samsung didn’t infringe.

“The Court agrees with Samsung that the sole basis for the June 26 Preliminary Injunction was the Court’s finding that Samsung likely infringed the D’889 Patent,” Koh said in her ruling. “The jury has found otherwise. Thus, the sole basis for the June 26 Preliminary Injunction no longer exists.”

Apple is currently seeking an injunction on the products that the jury did find had infringed on its patents and Koh could still issue a ban on those products, such as the Galaxy SII, after a hearing in December.

“We are pleased with the court’s action today, which vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple’s design patent and that an injunction was not called for,” Samsung said in a statement.

Initially Koh had refused to lift the ban citing that the issue was with the appeals court but last week the Federal US Circuit court ruled that Koh could lift the ban if she saw found reason to. Koh also said that she will be hanging on to a US$2.6-million bond that Apple had posted, and that she hopes to make a decision on a later date on whether not some of it should be given to Samsung on the basis that the injunction was wrongfully issued.

Samsung has been in appeals since losing the US patent battle in the US earlier this year after the jury had ruled in Apple’s favour and asked Samsung to pay damages to sum of US1.049-billion.