An Australian court has agreed to
hear in March a case brought by Samsung Electronics to ban sales of Apple Inc's
latest iPhone, with sales allowed to continue as normal ahead of the full
hearing on alleged patent infringements.
Samsung has sought to block sales of Apple's latest iPhone 4S, which went on sale in early October, by filing preliminary sales injunction requests in four countries including Australia.
The decision by the court to hold a full
hearing in March gives Apple at least four months to sell the new iPhone in
Australia. Apple stunned Wall Street last month with quarterly results that
missed expectations for the first time in years as customers held off buying
iPhones until the October launch.
"The case will be fixed for a hearing
for three weeks, commencing in March, 2012, with the date to be fixed on
Friday," justice Annabelle Bennett told the Australian Federal Court in
Sydney on Tuesday.
Bennett said sales of the iPhone 4S in
Australia would be allowed to continue in the meantime.
"I stand over the application for an
interlocutory injunction, that will stand over to the same date, as that of the
date of the hearing," she added.
Apple and Samsung have been locked in a legal
battle in 10 countries involving smartphones and tablet computers as they
jostle for top spot in the fast-growing markets. Apple is also Samsung's
biggest customer, buying mainly chips and displays.
Lawyers for Apple had wanted a hearing for
the case to be held in August next year, but Bennett said this was too far
away.
"They are trying to expand the Android
market. The longer it's left the harder it will be for Samsung," Justice
Bennett said.
Samsung uses Google Inc's Android operating
system in its smart phones.
In October, Samsung filed preliminary
injunction motions against the latest iPhone in Japan, France and Italy,
claiming the product infringed its patents.
The case in Australia will center around
alleged infringement of 3 patents and more than 25 claims.
Samsung's latest salvo came after the South
Korean electronics giant suffered a series of setbacks in its ongoing legal
battles with the U.S. firm.
Apple has scored preliminary injunctions
against some Samsung products in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, and
further seeks to block sales of Samsung models in the United States, the key
smartphone battleground.
In Australia, Samsung has appealed against
an Australian court's decision to grant a preliminary injunction blocking the
sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, with a full court hearing scheduled
for November 25.
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