Happy news for fans of Samsung smartphones in U.S. Samsung Electronics won its bid to continue selling its newest Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US while it battles patentinfringement claims filed by Apple. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Samsung’s request to lift a lower court’s ban on sales. Samsung wants to continue selling the phone while it challenges a federal judge’s June 29 ruling that Apple was likely to win its suit claiming the Galaxy Nexus infringed four patents and that sales were hurting Apple’s business in the meantime. The case is part of a global battle between the two biggest makers of mobile phones that surf the Web, play video games and do most other functions of a computer. The case involves different patents than the ones at the heart of a $1 billion verdict Apple won against Samsung. Apple argued that it’s important to keep the Galaxy Nexus out of the US market now because most Americans haven’t yet switched to smartphones, and a product that copies Apple’s features could steal customers from its iPhone.
