U.S. judge blocks sales of Samsung Galaxy Nexus

The decision comes just days after sales of the firm’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet are blocked.

A U.S. District Court has handed Apple a victory against one of its biggest competitors in the smartphone market by blocking U.S. sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh granted Apple a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus phone, which went on sale in the United States in December.

This is the second Samsung Galaxy product Koh has blocked this week: On Tuesday, she granted Apple a preliminary injunction against U.S. sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1tablet computer.

Koh granted the injunction after Apple argued that the Galaxy Nexus phone caused it irreparable harm due to long-term marketshare loss and “losses of downstream sales,” according to a Reuters reporter.

“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” an Apple spokeswoman said in an email. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Neither Samsung nor Google, which sells the phone and developed its operating software, responded to a request for comment.

Verizon Wireless, which offers the phone, said it could not comment regarding how it would be affected as it had not yet seen the preliminary injunction. Sprint also carries the phone, but it did not respond to requests for comment.