Tablet computers: Samsung wins round against Apple
Tablet computers from Samsung had been banned in Germany because they were too much like Apple's iPad 2. But a German court has OK'd sales of new Samsung tablet computers – the Galaxy Tab 10.1N – despite Apple's objection.
In this 2011 file photo, a lawyer holds Apple and Samsung tablet computers at a court in Duesseldorf, Germany. Germany originally banned sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 because it too closely resembled Apple's iPad 2. But ths past week, a German court ruled Samsung could sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, because Samsung had made enough modifications to the design.
Sascha Schuermann/dapd/AP/File
BERLIN
A German court has rejected a bid by Apple to block sales of a new tablet computer from rival Samsung — the latest round in a battle between the two companies.
News agency dapd reported that the state court in Duesseldorf rejected Thursday Apple's call for an injunction preventing sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N in Germany.
An appeals court in Duesseldorf last month ruled Samsung couldn't sell the computer's predecessor, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, in Germany because it too closely resembled Apple's iPad2.
Thursday's ruling said Samsung had changed the design to the extent that the new model did not breach Apple's rights or German competition laws.
Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. are engaged in a strategic war over patents in many countries.