Samsung loses Nexus appeal, Google promises sales next week

A request by Samsung to lift a pre-trial injunction of its Galaxy Nexus phone in the US has failed, with a judge rejecting the plea, but Google has said that the device will be ready for sale again next week.

The preliminary injunction was granted at the end of last week, after Judge Lucy Koh found that the Galaxy Nexus likely infringes on a number of Apple's patents. Samsung asked for a stay of the injunction, but this was rejected by the court.

The company was disappointed, but proclaimed its intention to keep fighting.

"Samsung is disappointed with the California court's decision that denied its motion to stay," the company said in a statement.

"We believe today's ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior technological features to consumers in the United States."

Samsung said that when the injunction was first granted, it was working with Google to resolve the infringement, as the patent around which the ban centred involves Google's unified search function.

Various publications are now reporting that Google is "imminently" set to release a software patch that will allow the Samsung Galaxy Nexus to stay on the market. Google would not comment on the existence of such a patch; however, it did say that while the device has been removed from sale, it will begin shipping again next week.

Samsung said that it will also pursue a request for an appeal of a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1. One appeal has already been rejected, but the company has filed another.

Apple and Samsung have been at each others' throats in a global sense, filing cases all over the world, with each party claiming that the other has infringed on their patents.

In Australia, Apple brought a case against Samsung for infringing on its patents with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, while Samsung said that Apple was in turn infringing on its patents with the iPhone and iPad. Apple was granted a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab, as it was in the US, but that was overturned.