Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still subject to a sales ban in Germany, according to a new court ruling. Apple and Samsung continue to battle in courtrooms worldwide.
A
Dusseldorf court declined to overturn a ruling that bars Samsung's Galaxy Tab
10.1 tablet from sale in Germany. Apple and Samsung have been locked in a
particularly vicious legal battle in that country, with both sides suing each
other over supposed patent violations.
Late
in 2011, Apple's legal counsel scored a temporary injunction from the German
courts that blocked Samsung from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1, claiming the
tablet copied the iPad. Samsung responded by releasing the Galaxy Tab 10.1N,
modified to sidestep the ban; in November, Apple responded with a preliminary
injunction against the revised tablet. The courts will apparently hand down a
decision on that case in early February.
In
the meantime, this most recent decision by the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court
upholds the sales ban on the original, unmodified Galaxy Tab 10.1. According to
patent expert Florian Mueller, who wrote about the court proceedings in
a
Jan. 31 posting on his FOSS Patents blog, the smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9 "falls
within the scope of that injunction."
However,
he didn't see all hope as lost for Samsung. "The appeals court based its
decision on a violation of Germany unfair competition law," he wrote, "while
the lower court's ruling was based on a finding of violation of a Community
design, the European equivalent of a U.S. design patent."
Because
of the uniqueness of Germany's unfair competition laws, he added, "Apple
can't replicate the German decision in other countries." Also, despite the
headline-generating nature of these preliminary injunctions, Samsung also has
some time before what he described as "the full-blown main proceedings,"
which will involve "Apple's design-related claims against a total of 15
Samsung products."
At
this point, he sees the battle continuing well into the future. "Apple's
and Samsung's claims against each other continue to have a very high drop-out
rate in different jurisdictions," he wrote in a separate
Jan.
27 posting on his blog. "Since both companies are doing very well
(with Apple being not just highly but even unbelievably profitable), they can
afford to keep going, and at this point neither litigant has the leverage to
force its rival into a settlement."
Over
the past few months, Apple has failed to have Samsung's Galaxy tablets and
smartphones banned in the United States. Other courtroom battles continue all
over the world, including Europe and Asia. Although Apple's iPad and iPhone
claim a considerable portion of the tablet and smartphone markets, the devices
are facing down an ever-broadening collection of rival Android devices from
various manufacturers.
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