Samsung contests Galaxy Tab injunction
Samsung Electronics has today alleged that the interlocutory injunction awarded to Apple against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was incorrect and a leap of logic, all the while pushing for the case to be expedited in the courts.
In a case presented before Justice Lindsay Foster in the Federal Court of New South Wales today, Samsung contested the basis on which Justice Annabel Bennett gave her ruling two weeks ago.
Samsung complained on multiple grounds. In Bennett's ruling, she said that Samsung's "unwillingness" to move the case to an early final hearing stage, counted against the Korean gadget maker.
"[Bennett] based her response on the basis that Samsung wouldn't accept an early final hearing, which tipped the balance against us," Samsung's legal counsel said in court today. "That is a flawed proposition. [What was proposed was] a preliminary hearing based on several prejudicial conditions ... including an injunction ... and no further evidence. That was used as a black mark that led fundamentally to the grant of interlocutory relief.
"There is no case that sanctions that kind of approach," Samsung added.
The Korean gadget maker's legal counsel went on, adding that the company was not completely unwilling to go to an early final hearing stage, rather it was unprepared to do so on the "prejudicial" requirements Apple had set forth in earlier hearings.
"Samsung was not unwilling to go to early final hearing, it was prepared to if there was no injunction ... so in our submission, her Honour based her judgement on a wholly irrelevant consideration."
Justice Foster who presided over today's case moved to have Samsung's appeal expedited through the court after Samsung once again claimed that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is at risk of becoming irrelevant in the Australian market due to the short product life cycle.
Excerpts from an affidavit sworn by Samsung Australia's head of telecommunications, Tyler McGee, were also read in open court today, which indicate Samsung's reputation is slipping among Australian retailers.
One unnamed retailer reportedly told McGee that "you [Samsung] have used up your goodwill, you're living on borrowed time".
Samsung also claimed that online retailers importing the US version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 were also serving to damage the company's reputation by not offering genuine warranties or a region-specific version of the software.