Apple is batting .500 in German courts, as the court gave Apple an injunction it sought against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7 in the European Union, while also denying a sales ban on the “re-designed” Galaxy Tab 10.1N.
TNW:
The Galaxy Tab 7.7 was found to have infringed on Apple drawings that date back to 2004, the report noted. The appeals court in Dusseldorf rejected Samsung’s argument that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 ban should apply only to its German subsidiary and instead blocked the device across the EU.
Samsung, of course said it was “disappointed” with the “7.7” decision:
“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s ruling. We will continue to take all available measures, including legal action, to protect our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple’s claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European Union.”
Samsung quickly issued a statement in support of the favorable part of the ruling.
“Samsung welcomes the court’s ruling which confirms our position that the GALAXY Tab 10.1N does not infringe Apple’s intellectual property and does not infringe laws against unfair competition,” the company said. “Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”
Apple lost its case against the Galaxy Tab 10.1N in January, and immediately appealed.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1N is a modified version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 which was designed specifically to avoid any injunctions like this, and Samsung’s changes look to have paid off.
Samsung had a stroke of luck earlier this month, when a U.K. judge ordered that its Galaxy devices were not guilty of infringing Apple’s intellectual property, as they were “not cool enough.” No opinion on the coolness of Samsung’s devices was forthcoming from the German court.
