Galaxy Nexus Escapes Injunction As Appeals Court Extends Stay

Google's Galaxy Nexus can remain on sale, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled, rejecting Apple's demands that the Samsung-made smartphone be blocked from shelves. Apple's original preliminary injunction had been suspended by the appeals court on July 6, with a second ruling this week extending that suspension to August 20, FOSSPatents reports.

The exact timescale for the stay on the preliminary injunction has not been revealed, and so Samsung and Google could find the rug pulled out from under them at any moment. However, the likelihood is that the court will opt to adjudicate soon after the August 20 hearing, only taking as long as is required to deliberate on Samsung's next filing.

That filing is expected to be submitted on or before August 6, with Samsung taking the opportunity to further illustrate why the Galaxy Nexus does not infringe on Apple's design and UI patents.

Apple's ban on the Galaxy Nexus came at perhaps the worst possible time for Google: right on the heels of Google IO, its annual developer event, where a price cut for the unlocked version of the smartphone had been triumphantly announced. It was also the poster-child smartphone for Jelly Bean, the latest version of Android, which was pushed out as an update shortly after the developer event.

The main Apple vs Samsung case is ongoing in the San Jose courts, with Apple arguing that Samsung used iPhone and iPad design as a shortcut for its own Galaxy range. Samsung counters that it had already come up with a touchscreen-centric design prior to the original iPhone's release.