On Monday, the appellate court in Washington, D.C., reversed Koh for the third time on enjoining Samsung from infringing Apple’s smartphone patents. The court ruled that Koh applied its new “causal nexus” standard for evaluating irreparable harm too strictly. The upshot is that Apple will get one more bite at stopping Samsung from selling certain phones and tablets found to infringe Apple’s touch screen patents.
How that will play out on remand is unclear, in part because Samsung has withdrawn most of the infringing products from the market. But at the very least, said Santa Clara University law professor Brian Love, “Apple can be more specific with the kinds of evidence it presents in the next case” if Samsung or any other manufacturers introduce new infringing devices.
