Image: Chris Samuel, via Flickr (CC)

The Android OS maker and the world’s top smartphone company have decided to team up and sort things out for the Galaxy Nexus handset. They intend to create a software patch that will see the current Google flagship phone landing on U.S. store shelves.

According to AllThingsD, Google made up its mind to go hands on with the Galaxy Nexus, pulling the phone from the Google Play Store. A federal court gave the go-ahead signal to ban the sales and importation of the Galaxy Nexus in the U.S. The ruling upheld the injunction as part of Apple’s complaint against Samsung’s smartphone.

Apple is still in hot pursuit of smartphone and tablet makers who use Android OS on their devices. Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus is the latest phone to enter the legal skirmish between Apple and Android manufacturers regarding patent infringement. Apple lawyers previously pointed most of their attention against Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC, and recently on Samsung’s latest flagship Galaxy S3, both with limited success.

Judge Lucy Koh, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, rejected Samsung’s appeal to stop the injunction on the alleged infringement of Apple patents. The company, with the help of Google, now looks for a way to bring the Google phone back into the U.S. market.

Patent Wars

Reuters Friday last week reported that Apple has to post a $96 million bond to carry out the injunction. The bond will be for damages Samsung will sustain if the ruling was a wrong call.

The Friday ruling centers on U.S. Patent 8,086,604, a 2004 Apple patent that covers a user interface (UI) for conveniently acquiring information from a computer system. The patent relates to universal search on the Galaxy Nexus, among three others, which include slide to unlock, word recommendations and autocorrect. Samsung now works with Google to make a software update, regardless of their plan to appeal in court about universal search on phones even before Apple filed its patent.

The Verge points out that this software update will land on all Galaxy Nexus smartphones within the U.S., covering the various carriers. It essentially limits the scope of the search bar on Android’s homescreen to results from the Web. This means that search within apps, emails, music, video and all supported apps will stop appearing in the search bar’s results. Moreover, voice search will only include Google Search results as well.

As legal actions go forward, Google and Samsung will focus on the software update so that the Galaxy Nexus can go back in U.S. stores by next week.

About Francis Rey Balolong

A coffee junkie who spends most of his time writing about the latest news on social media and mobile technology. I would definitely consider myself a nerd (in the coolest most hipster way possible). That being said, I love technology, music, writing, and all things mobile. Follow me: Google+ Twitter

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