German Ban on Galaxy Tab Stays in Place

The temporary injunction that Apple got forbidding Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be sold in Germany survived a Düsseldorf appeals court, which found Tuesday that “Samsung unfairly imitates the iPad with its tablet.” The court said the ban includes the smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9. However, the grounds have changed. Originally Apple charged the Galaxy Tab with infringing its European Community Design IP, a claim the lower court bought. The appeals court said Samsung violated the German unfair competition law so the ban sticks but Samsung’s still selling the slightly modified Galaxy Tab 10.1N, and that widget, which Apple also wants banned, may survive a court decision due February 9 because – according to the appeals court decision – Samsung has effectively shot down Apple’s Community Design IP. FOSS Patents says, “If Samsung is allowed to continue to sell the 10.1N, the commercial relevance of today’s appellate decision is next to nil.” See, “Apple can’t replicate the German decision in other countries since German unfair competition law is pretty unique. A win based on an EU-wide design right would have been strategically more valuable to Apple. Even though Samsung formally lost its appeal because the preliminary injunction remains in force, it succeeded in defeating Apple’s design right.” Apple is going to have to come up with unassailable patent IP. A Dutch court last week found Samsung didn’t infringe Apple’s Community Design after the court narrowed Apple’s claims. Apple’s technical patent claims and infringement charges should hit a German court in the next few months.

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