Samsung gets a double whammy as Judge sides with Apple on Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus Injunction

Apple seems to have given the ole one two punch to Samsung this week. Two separate injunction cases aimed at Samsung have apparently been ruled in the favor of Apple. That is never a sentence I ever want to write again.  One is agaianst the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the other is against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Lets see if we can break each down in the simplest and fastest to read form available.

In the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 case, Apple won a preliminary injunction to ban sales of the tablet in the U.S. pending further review. In a nutshell, Apple is upset that the UI, the tablets shape and tablets packaging looks similar to the iPads. -No comment- But here is a comment from Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet, “It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products looks a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

I would like to personally apologize for Samsung making their tablet rectangular and black and putting in a small rectangular box. Our bad.

The U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who over saw the case and made the ruling early Tuesday morning felt that the strength of Apple’s case on the merits left her no choice but agree with them.

“Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly by flooding the market with infringing products. While Samsung will certainly suffer lost sales from the issuance of an injunction, the hardship to Apple of having to directly compete with Samsung’s infringing products outweighs Samsung’s harm in light of the previous findings by the Court.”

Samsung isn’t going to take this lying down though Stating, “Apple sought a preliminary injunction of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, based on a single design patent that addressed just one aspect of the product’s overall design. Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”

On to the second punch below the belt. Apple winning another injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

That ruling was handed down just today, by none other than U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. The same judge that over heard the Galaxy Tab 10.1 case. Of course an Apple spokes woman gave the same line they used in the previous case about the Nexus looking like an iPhone and being in a box.

There is a little bit more to this story though. As a condition of the injunction, Apple was ordered to post a bond of $95 million. This is being put in place to secure as payment of damages sustained by Samsung if the injunction is later deemed a wrongful decision at a later date. As it sits right now, the Galaxy Nexus is still on shelves in the U.S. until Apple is compliant and posts the bond. We bet they already have the check book out though.

What a bad week for Samsung. The chances of these injunctions sticking are pretty slim. They bark, we bite. The pick up an axe and we grab a chainsaw. Apple is on a rampage to do anything they can to put a dent in the Android platform. Anything they can sue for or request injunctions for they are doing. I for one am over it. I wish Apple would take those billions of dollar and invest it in making the next big thing and just let people buy what they want.

Source: Tab 10.1 via AllThingsD , Gnex via Reuters