Apple has lost a bid to block sales of Samsung's Galaxy phones and tablet computers in the US. The US District Court in San Jose, California denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction that would have banned the sale of three Samsung smartphones and a tablet computer in the US pending the outcome of a product-copying lawsuit Apple brought against Samsung. Judge Lucy Koh said that Apple may ultimately succeed in showing that Samsung copied ideas from Apple's iPhone and iPad for its Galaxy smartphones and Galaxy Tab computer when the case goes to trial in July. But for now, Apple didn't meet the standards needed to pull Samsung products from the shelves, the Wall Street Journal reports. Samsung and Apple have filed at least 30 suits against each other on four continents since April. Apple won a one-week extension of the Australian ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on 2 December, effective until the country's top court considers the company's request for permission to appeal the 30 November decision by a lower court. Samsung modified the tablet's design last month and renamed it Galaxy Tab 10.1N to avoid a German sales ban upheld by a Duesseldorf court in September. In October, Samsung changed the way photos are browsed on three Galaxy-phone models for the Dutch market to bypass an injunction won by Apple in August.
