Do-or-die battle for Galaxy Tab 10.1

Lawyers for Samsung have revealed the company's dire need to hold an expedited, slimmed-down version of a final hearing in its patent battle with Apple this month, saying that delays would likely render the tablet unviable in the Australian market.

Apple brought the case against Samsung last month, saying that the company's Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringed on its patents. As a gesture of good faith, Samsung delayed the device launch of its own volition twice until legal proceedings could be solved.

However, Samsung's lawyers told the court yesterday that it would not be in a position to take on Apple in a full hearing of the case until at least March 2012.

They told Justice Annabelle Bennett that a delay in proceedings or an interlocutory injunction slapped on the device that lasts any longer than mid October would render the release of the device near pointless in the Australian market, although it wouldn't say if it would walk away from a launch of the device entirely.

"If we miss the Christmas sales period, the commercial value of the [Tab 10.1] will disappear," Samsung's legal counsel told the court yesterday.

It has therefore continued to push for a deal with Apple, which would see the parties face each other within 10 weeks in a slimmed-down version of the case that looks at a smaller number of patents, in return for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch being allowed to proceed in the interim.

Apple yesterday said that it had rejected Samsung's initial deal, saying that it defeated the purpose of the entire legal proceeding and allowed Samsung to "have its cake and eat it too".

"Our letter in response said that we don't accept the terms [of the deal]. The whole reason we're here is to prevent the launch and maintain the status quo," Apple counsel Steven Burley said.

There will be further interlocutory hearings to try to decide the matter.