You can hear a collective sospiro of relief from Italian Apple fans today after a judge in Milan denied a request by Samsung to block sales of the iPhone 4S in a preliminary hearing.
At stake was the launch of the iPhone 4S on October 28, the device that some Italians have already been buying on eBay just to say they’ve established intimate relations with Siri before anyone else.
Today was only a reprieve for the iPhone buyers and Apple, however, since judge Marina Tavassi agreed to give Samsung until November 15 to prepare its brief over patents used in Apple’s new device, daily Il Corriere della Sera reported.
On October 5, Samsung announced its lawyers would be busy prepping to block the iPhone 4S in France and Italy.
Blocking sales of the new iPhone was meant to “use publicity over the device’s introduction as leverage against Apple in a broader fight over the design of smartphones and tablet computers.” The South Korean company has another 20 legal actions pending against Apple in 20 countries.
Hat tip: Stefano Donadio at Spider Mac