Apple blocks Samsung from selling Galaxy tablet

The court order comes a week after Samsung was forced to delay the Australian launch of its latest Galaxy tablet because of a similar lawsuit.

Apple said Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets “slavishly” copied the iPhone and iPad. It has sued in the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

Samsung, whose tablets are based on Google Inc’s Android software, has countersued Apple.

Apple Inc scored a big victory in its patent infringement battle against Samsung Electronics after a German court temporarily barred the Korean firm from selling its flagship Galaxy tablet in the European Union except the Netherlands.

“There’s no doubt the court decision will have an adverse effect on Samsung. Samsung is clashing with Apple in many places, which could result in a temporary fall in sales and increase costs related to litigation,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet confirmed that a district court in the German city of Dusseldorf granted the preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1. It was not immediately clear why the order did not include the Netherlands.

Samsung’s mobile unit, which includes handsets and tablet PCs, generated 30% of the technology giant’s revenue in the second quarter. The bulk of the rest comes from memory chips and televisions, sectors where Samsung is the global leader.

Samsung shares edged up 0.3% in a broader market up 0.7% after sharp falls over the past few days.

The Korean company, Asia’s biggest technology company with revenue of won 154.6 trillion Korean ($142 billion) last year, said it would challenge the court decision.

Without patents, companies’ devices are vulnerable to challenges for royalties or, worse, demands from rivals to withdraw the products from the market place.

Apple sold 14 million iPads in the first half of this year worldwide, compared with analysts’ sales estimates of about 7.5 million units for the Galaxy Tab over 2011.

Industry executives said Samsung could launch a new variation of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to get it on sale in Europe, as it plans to do in Australia, or settle the dispute by paying royalties to Apple.

A Samsung spokesman said, in Australia, Samsung has agreed to show Apple an Australian version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 one week before its launch there.

Samsung halts tablet sales in Australia over Apple lawsuit

Apple and Samsung continue to battle back and forth over several patent disputes, and it looks like one country is becoming a casualty.

Samsung and Apple came to an agreement in their patent dispute in Australia, under which Samsung has agreed not to advertise the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or to sell it in the country until the suit between the two companies is resolved, according to a story from TechCrunch. Samsung needs either court approval to sell its device, or for the lawsuit to come to a close under the agreement.

The agreement holds up the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which Apple says violates 10 iPad patents, according to Bloomberg. Apple is fighting Samsung in lots of different venues, including the U.S., where it is working to convince the International Trade Commission to ban imports of the South Korean company’s tab for infringing on Apple’s patents. Those patents concern both hardware internally and the external design of the tablet, which Apple has claimed in an injunction request to the ITC are evidence of Samsung copying Apple’s device.

Samsung has said the Australian Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be different from the U.S. version, the one Apple has sued over. It’s possible, perhaps likely, that Samsung has made changes in the design to dodge Apple’s legal strafing in order to be able to sell the device with impunity. For Samsung though, an Australian judge will still need to take a look at the device before the company is free to sell it in Australia right now.

Samsung’s legal team has also said that Apple will be able to review three of the Australian Galaxy Tabs at least a week before they’re set to go on sale in the country to verify that they are as different as Samsung has claimed.

But the legal battle remains a mess in other places, where Apple has sued Samsung  and has countersued. And the battle is a big deal, with a lot of money at stake – Samsung and Apple currently lead the smartphone markets, and Samsung’s tab is certainly capable of taking the lead on the Android side of the market.

Unfortunately, the Australian developments in the case don’t shed any additional light on how things will shake out in any other part of the world. Apple and Samsung remain in a death grip awaiting the rulings of judges – and those rulings will undoubtedly have a big impact on both companies’ businesses.