Google is teaming up with Samsung to push out a patch that should help the companies avoid the Galaxy Nexus sales ban.
Google has started work on the software patch that should help the companies get around Apple’s infringement claims that have lead to an injunction.
The patch will be pushed out imminently, Google told All Things D.
On Tuesday by District Court Judge Lucy Koh decided to uphold the ban on sales of the Galaxy Nexus in the US while Samsung pursues its appeal. Koh ruled on Friday that the Galaxy Nexus is likely to infringe on four Apple patents, but issued the injunction based specifically on a patent related to universal search.
Despite patching the phone’s operating system, Google says it will challenge the universal search patent at issue in the case.
The two companies have formed a united front following a US court’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus smartphone and “any product that is no more than colourably different from the specified product and infringes US Patent No. 8,086,604.” Patent No. 8,086,604 relates to a universal interface for the retrieval of information in a computer system.
The Galaxy Nexus was the first device to run the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google’s Android operating system.
The US courts have also blocked sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US. The court previously found the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be “virtually indistinguishable” from Apple’s iPad and iPad 2.
Lawyers for Samsung have petitioned to suspend the injunction that has blocked its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer from sale in the country.
Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.