The iPad and iPhone are looking much more successful in retail stores than in courtrooms, with Samsung and Motorola Mobility both scoring significant court victories against Apple this week. Australia’s High Court says Samsung will be able to sell its Galaxy 10.1 tablet this holiday season, dismissing an injunction that has kept the tablet off the Australian market since October. Apple claimed that the Galaxy 10.1 infringed upon its iPad 2 touch screen patent, but the court ruled in favor of Samsung, and is requiring Apple to pay all legal costs associated with the case.
A German court may ban sales of iPhones and iPads in that country after a judge found today that these devices infringe on a European patent belonging to Motorola Mobility. But Motorola will reportedly have to post a $133 million bond in order to secure an injunction.
But Samsung and Motorola’s courtroom victories may be cold comfort this holiday season, with fourth quarter sales of iPhones now projected to hit 30 million, and iPad sales projected to hit 12 million. Apple’s robust sales may have played a part in last week’s ruling by a California district judge denying Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung in the United States. Judge Lucy Koh noted that while Apple is likely to ultimately prove Samsung infringed on Apple’s design patents, the company has not proven that Samsung is causing irreparable harm to Apple by selling the Galaxy tablets and smartphones. If Apple does win the patent infringement case, Samsung will probably have to pay damages on the Galaxy products it has sold. Samsung is Apple’s strongest competitor in the smartphone market, and outsold the Cupertino company by a wide margin in the third quarter, before the introduction of the iPhone 4S.
