Don't expect a Galaxy tab for Christmas - High Court reinstates ban

David Heath
Friday, 02 December 2011 13:48

IT Policy - Regulation

Following Wednesday's announcement of a (small) victory for Samsung over Apple in their ongoing court battle, Apple has managed to turn the tables.  Again.

Apple's ban over the sale of the Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 was overturned by the Federal Court on Wednesday, but with a 'pause' until 4:00pm today to permit Apple to appeal to the High Court.

Apple has taken advantage of that brief window of opportunity and in response, the High Court has extended the 'pause' until December 9th.

In response to the High Court decision, a Samsung representative said, "Samsung believes Apple has no basis for its application for leave to appeal and will vigorously oppose this to the High Court."

It has been widely suggest that the stay order is unsurprising as the status quo would have to be maintained until the case is considered by the High Court.  Although lay opinion is divided on the merits of the case, legal experts quoted in numerous outlets are generally of the opinion that High Court will not grant leave to appeal and the import ban will lapse on the 9th or at some later date should the High Court extend the deadline.

This almost certainly means that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 won't be in stores in time for Christmas as the current ban applies to the import as well as sale of the devices.