Samsung agrees to pause its Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch in Australia, until the lawsuit with Apple is resolved

Samsung and Apple have agreed in court room breaks to pause with the plans for sales and marketing of the new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia, because of Apple's patent infringement lawsuit against it, which is pending in Down Under.

The South Koreans will stop advertising the slate, and it won't be sold in Australia until it wins the court's approval to do so, or the patent litigation is resolved.

If the Australian court verdict is in favor of Samsung, Apple is obliged to pay damages to Samsung for the delay of the Samsung Tab 10.1 launch. Samsung's lawyer said the initial claim was regarding the US version of the tablet, which differs from the Australian one, but Apple's lawyer comment was that the injunction against Samsung in Down Under has been necessary since Samsung has had the “announcements of an imminent launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 device ongoing since July 20”.

Judge Bennett from the Federal Court in Sydney is expected to review Apple's claims for infringing on 10 of its patents on August 29th, and, if necessary, give a date for the trial then. This might not bode well for the US patent infringement case, as now we have the Australian precedent of freezing Samsung gadget sales pending a court's decision.

source: Bloomberg