Apple rejects Samsung's Galaxy Tab offer

SELLER OF SHINY TOYS Apple has rejected Samsung's offer to settle a dispute over the sale of Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets in Australia.

Samsung attempted to appease Apple by altering some features that allegedly infringe Apple patents, and hoped that would result in lifting a sales injunction in an Australian court. However Apple rejected the offer and said it was simply out to stop the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from ever seeing the light of day in Australia.

Steven Burley, Apple's lawyer told the court, "The main reason we are here is to prevent the [Galaxy Tab 10.1] launch and maintain the status quo."

Apple won an injunction to stop Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia, however yesterday Samsung offered an olive branch, claiming it had altered some of the features that Apple has alleged infringed its patents. Samsung's changes mean that the dispute now covers three alleged patent infringements.

Neil Young, Samsung's lawyer told Reuters that if a decision couldn't be reached by mid-October then the firm was in no hurry. "If we can't get a decision out by mid-October, there is no urgency," said Young, adding that if Samsung couldn't get a decision by then, the device's Australian market would be "commercially dead".

Apple's candid admission in court that it wants to "maintain the status quo" could be seen as simply keeping devices that might pose a significant challenge to the Ipad away from the market. There's no doubt that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch in Australia has been severely damaged by the legal wrangling, but the Korean company has a bigger hurdle coming up next week when a US court is expected to deliver its verdict in a similar case. µ