Apple Gets Another Chance To Permanently Ban 26 Samsung Products in U.S.

Apple’s lawyers now have another chance at permanently ending sales of 26 Samsung devices in the U.S., which the company claims to have infringed on its patents as today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has vacated District Court Judge Lucy Koh’s earlier denial of Apple’s request for a permanent injunction against those devices (via The Verge).

The source details that the court has sent the issue back to Judge Koh with respect to Apple’s technical utility patents, where she will have to apply a new standard. What’s more interesting is that rather than showing that the patented features were the “sole” reason for driving sales of the products, Apple will only have to show “some connection between the patented feature and demand for Samsung’s products.”

“The court went on to hold that an injunction might be warranted if the evidence shows “that the inclusion of a patented feature makes a product significantly more desirable,” or that “the absence of a patented feature would make a product significantly less desirable.” Now we’ll have to see what “significantly” means. Not the primary reason, not a trivial reason, but something in between?”

While today’s court ruling sets a lower threshold for Apple to overcome in seeking product bans against Samsung, the products at issue in this case are now largely obsolete. This will however become a major focal point in Apple’s attempts to seek product bans in the forthcoming second trial between the two companies, which includes the company’s flagship Galaxy S4 as well.