Samsung Appeal On Apple Verdict? Not ‘Til Dec. 6, Judge Rules

Samsung Electronics (Seoul: 005930) may have lost a $1.05 billion judgment to Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, but it's won a temporary reprieve from the judge on product bans and other retaliatory measures.

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled she will consider Apple's request that she ban eight Samsung products from U.S. sales only on Dec. 6, although she will hear a motion to lift an injunction on sales of the Galaxy Tab.1 on Sept. 20.

Koh, who sits in San Jose, Calif., wrote in response to Apple's request there will be "substantial overlap between the analysis required for Apple's preliminary injunction and the parties' various other posttrial motions," justifying the delay.

Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., has until Friday to file motions opposing Samsung, which Samsung can respond to by next Tuesday.

Koh, who presided over the nearly three-week trial before a nine-member jury, could still throw out the judgment, or, under civil law, she could triple the damages to more than $3 billion. The judge, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010, had previously handled technology litigation for two Silicon Valley law firms before being appointed to a California state judgeship in 2008.

UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois said the delay benefits Samsung, which sold only about 1.7 million devices Apple seeks to ban in the U.S. in the second quarter. "The effect is minimal," he said.

As a result, Samsung shares rose 35,000 Korean won (US $30.87) to 1.23 million won in Wednesday trading. Despite the gain, they're still down 4.5 percent since last Friday.

Apple shares fell $1.40 to $673.40 in late trading, only slightly below their all-time high.

Separately, Samsung introduced its first smartphone loaded with the Windows 8 OS from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the world's biggest software company, in Germany, a week before Nokia Oyj (NYSE: NOK) of Finland was scheduled to introduce its first Windows 8 Lumia phone in New York.

At its "Unpacked" preview, Samsung dubbed the Windows 8 phone ATIV S, with a 4.8-inch screen with Gorilla Glass 2 from Corning (NYSE: GLW), an 8.7 millimeter aluminum case and a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor.