A U.S. judge on Friday denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against four Samsung products that Cupertino claims infringes upon its patents.
As a result, the Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, Droid Charge, and Galaxy Tab 10.1 will remain on store shelves in the United States while the two companies continue their legal battle.
In making her decision, California district Judge Lucy Koh said that a preliminary injunction is an "extraordinary remedy." Apple had to prove that it would suffer irreparable harm unless the Samsung products were pulled from the market, but at this stage, Judge Koh wasn't convinced.
"It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung's accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed," she wrote. "Indeed, given the evidence Samsung presented, it seems likely that a major beneficiary of an injunction would be other smartphone manufacturers."
Recent stats from comScore found that 25.5 percent of U.S. smartphone users had a Samsung device while 10.8 percent had an iPhone.
The full case heads to court on July 30, 2012, at which time both companies will present their more complete arguments. At this point, though, Judge Koh was not completely sold on some of Apple's design complaints.
The court found "that a size that can be handheld, a screen that encompasses a large portion of the front face of the smartphone, and a speaker on the upper portion of the front face of the product are non-ornamental." In other words, Apple is not necessarily the only company that can release a device with those characteristics.
In a statement, Samsung said it "welcomes" Friday's ruling.
"This ruling confirms our long-held view that Apple's arguments lack merit," a Samsung spokesman said. "In particular, the court has recognized that Samsung has raised substantial questions about the validity of certain Apple design patents. We are confident that we can demonstrate the distinctiveness of Samsung's mobile devices when the case goes to trial next year. We will continue to assert our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple's claims to ensure our continued ability to provide innovative mobile products to consumers."
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Patent blogger Florian Mueller argued in a Saturday post that the ruling makes it clear that "design patents are not the answer to Apple's issues with Samsung."
"Samsung doesn't have be 'Samesung,'" Mueller continued. "As long as it's allowed to build products that consumers view as equally attractive as Apple's, and that are distinct enough to comply with the law but still similar enough in the eyes of actual and prospective buyers, Samsung will be just fine."
Mueller suggested that Apple should focus its efforts on "solid technical patents," while also pointing out that most of the 300+ patents assigned to the late Steve Jobs are design-related.
Mueller also pointed out that the judge was not swayed by statements of support from T-Mobile andVerizon, which argued that their businesses would be harmed if Samsung's products were removed from the market.
"If Samsung is infringing upon Apple's patents, it is no more acceptable for third parties to benefit from Samsung's unlawful actions than it is for Samsung itself to benefit," Judge Koh said.
The case, meanwhile, dates back to April when Apple sued Samsung for copying the look and feel of its iPhone and iPad in its flagship Galaxy S line of devices; a suit that was later expanded to include 13 more products, including the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Nexus S 4G, and the Droid Charge.
The fight has since expanded to encompass more than two dozen cases throughout the world, with Samsung also trying to get Apple products pulled from the shelves.
Apple has been successful in getting the Galaxy Tab 10.1 temporarily banned in Germany and Australia, though a judge just overturned the Australia ruling. In August, meanwhile, a Dutch courtimposed an EU-wide preliminary injunction against Samsung Galaxy smartphones based on a photo-scrolling patent but threw out design-related claims on the Galaxy Tab.
Samsung has tried to get around the German ban by introducing a slightly modified Galaxy Tab 10.1N. Apple is also going after that device, but Mueller speculated that it will "likely take Samsung only one more iteration to come up with a non-infringing design."
As a result, "the outcome of the main proceeding in the U.S. will probably be somewhere in between the Dutch and German results, and therefore not be of much (if any) strategic use to Apple," Mueller concluded.
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