Although Samsung and Apple have agreed to meet on for settlement talks on 21-22 May, a US court of appeals has ruled that Apple can pursue a sales halt of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The appeal partly overturns an earlier ruling that blocked Apple's requests to halt the sale of the Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, Droid Charge, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Circuit Judge Bryson ruled that Apple should be free to pursue a sales halt of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, but upheld the earlier decision regarding Samsung's smartphones.

Legal eagles

The ruling allows Apple to pursue a preliminary injunction, which would block the importation into and sale within the US of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Given that the court's decision accepted the validity of Apple's design patent, such an injunction is now likely.

However, as Florian Mueller of Foss Patents points out, Samsung could easily circumvent a sales halt by modifying the design of the Tab 10.1, just as they did in Germany by releasing the Galaxy Tab 10.1N.

Apple and Samsung will meet for settlement talks regarding their various patent lawsuits on 21-22 May – talks which Mueller still believes will "fail to yield a breakthrough."

[source: Bloomberg]