Apple seeks to ban 8 Samsung phones in US

Apple filed a court request Monday seeking to ban eight Samsung mobile phones in the US market following a major victory in a patent suit against the South Korean electronics giant. The request includes phones being sold by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to US customers that were found to have infringed on Apple's patents from its iconic iPhone. Apple asked the court to ban some of the newer 4G phones from Samsung's Galaxy line as well as the Droid Charge sold through Verizon. The case -- in which the jury ordered more than $1 billion for patent infringement -- does not include Samsung's newest Galaxy S III, which was released subsequent to the suit but which is facing separate litigation. Apple asked the US District Court in San Jose, California to issue a preliminary injunction on the eight devices as a permanent injunction is debated. The phones include the Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 AT&T model, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S2 T-Mobile model, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail. Samsung meanwhile asked the court to dissolve an injunction on its Galaxy Tab 10.1, after the jury found it did not infringe on Apple's design patent for the iPad tablet. Judge Lucy Koh issued an injunction on the tablet on June 26. The South Korean firm said the court should retain Apple's $2.6 million bond for possible damages. The motion said Samsung is "entitled to recover damages caused by the improper injunction, and the court should retain the bond so that it may do so." Koh has set a hearing for September 20 to consider enforcement of injunctions against Samsung devices. She will also hear Samsung motions to reduce or dismiss charges and Apple's request for "punitive" damages, which could triple the award. In one bit of irony, there were reports that US consumers were snapping up Samsung devices in anticipation of a possible ban, analysts said.