pple has been trying everything it can to get rival tablets banned. Any device the company believes copies the design of the iPad in any way usually results in a lawsuit being filed. In Germany at the beginning of August, Apple took a different approach to halting sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Instead of filing a patent lawsuit the company filed an industrial design right infringement.
The so-called Community design is specific to Europe and covers the design of a device rather than specific hardware or software features. At the time, the German court accepted the complaint and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was banned from sale across Europe (with thee exception of the Netherlands). Later on the ban was reduced just to within Germany.
Now, the ruling on the Community design infringement has been upheld meaning the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is permanently banned in Germany. That means you can’t buy one in Germany and Samsung Germany cannot sell any units in other countries. That second point is a minor issue as Samsung can use other arms of its business to continue selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 elsewhere.
Samsung obviously intends to appeal the decision and points out such a ruling “restricts design innovation and progress.”
The worry now for Samsung and other Apple competitors is that if this ruling does stand it sets a precedent for other cases. However, with Google’s recent acquisition of Motorola and sale of useful patents to companies such as HTC, these lawsuits may start ending up in cross-licensing agreements rather than product bans before long.
More at PC World
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