As the Apple and Samsung trial in San Jose, California draws to a close, Apple is arguing in a separate court that the Galaxy Nexus is a product of Samsung copying the iPhone to take market share away from them.

Apple has argued in an appeals court in Washington that the Galaxy Nexus smartphone is copying its Siri voice-controlled personal assistant, Bloomberg reports.

“This was the beat-Apple strategy. This was the top of the line, Cadillac phone they trotted out to compete with the iPhone,” an Apple lawyer argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, the publication says.

The comments come from Mark Perry of the Gibson Dunn law firm in the trial which is a rework of arguments previously heard in an Apple and Samsung trial in the northern district of California.

To answer, lawyer John Quinn of the Quinn Emanuel law firm hired by Samsung has said that the Galaxy Nexus did not hurt Apple as it only had “miniscule” sales, Bloomberg reports.

“This is a product that, at most, captured 0.5 percent of the market,” Quinn Said.

He added that “nothing in the record here would support a finding of irreparable harm” to the Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker.

According to Quinn, Samsung only managed to sell $250 million-worth of the Galaxy Nexus during the first two quarters following the release of the device.

By contrast, Apple has said in the past that it sold derived gross revenue of $16.2 billion during the fiscal third quarter of the company for 2012.

This is an important point being argued by the two sides in the appellate court in Washington. Apple is requesting that the Galaxy Nexus should be banned from being sold in the US.

For an injunction to be granted, Apple needs to prove to the court that it has suffered a substantial degree of damage because of the sales of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

At the end of June, Californian District Judge Lucy Koh granted an Apple request to ban the Galaxy Nexus from being sold in the US based on the U.S. Patent 8,086,604 held by the iPhone maker. However, the injunction was later overturned.

Apple filed to ban the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US back in February.

This new appeal from Apple is significant as it not only puts Samsung in jeopardy but also threatens to drag Google directly into the court battle as the Galaxy Nexus is installed with an unaltered version of the Google-backed Android mobile operating system.

Images from TAKA on Flickr (CC)

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .