A federal U.S. Appeals Court this week threw out a lower court’s preliminary injunction that Apple won against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Samsung had requested the injunction be lifted, though sales of the Galaxy Nexus were disrupted for only a week or so back in July of this year. Google was able to quickly modify the software on the phones to get around Apple’s patent claims.
The injunction is part of a U.S. patent trial in which Apple and Samsung accuse each other of patent violations. Apple recently won a huge victory in a different U.S. patent trial, with Samsung ordered to hand over $1billion to Apple.
The two continue to battle over patents in U.S. courts, though. Samsung recently added Apple’s new iPhone 5 to the list of Apple devices it says infringe on its wireless technology patents in a trial scheduled to take place in 2014.
While these lawsuits would seem to be a hinderance to Samsung, the Korean company has actually been steadily capturing more of the smartphone market. Estimates now show that 25% of all smartphones in the U.S. are Samsungs, and the company has been consolidating its dominance of the Android handset market throughout 2012.
Just this week, Samsung announced a mini version of its flagship Android device, the Galaxy S III. Combine this with rumors of a coming 10-inch Nexus tablet, and Samsung is on the road to becoming Apple’s main competitor in both the 10-inch tablet and smartphone markets.
