Samsung Electronics Co. Limited v Apple Inc: Balance of convenience and justice favours Samsung

The Full Court of the Federal Court has upheld Samsung’s Appeal in Samsung Electronics Co. Limited v Apple Inc. [2011] FCAFC 156, overturning the injunction prohibiting the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Apple had claimed that Samsung had slavishly copied the iPad’s interface and had successfully won an injunction banning the Galaxy’s sale until a court could decide on whether Samsung had infringed Apple’s patents.

Yesterday, the full court held that Samsung’s refusal of an offer for an early trial could not be a consideration in determining the balance of convenience and justice.

Moreover, the court found that given the fact that the Galaxy was a “fast moving product”, the injunction was likely to determine the fate of the product. That is, if the launch was delayed, Samsung would miss out on Christmas period sales and likely never launch the product regardless of the result of the substantive trial.

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