Samsung Galaxy Tab Gets Go-Ahead In Oz
Apple loses patent battle against Samsung’s tablet in the Australian federal court
Samsung Electronics will soon be allowed to sell its Galaxy tablet 10.1 in the Australian market, it has been reported.
The company won its appeal against an October preliminary injunction, which temporarily banned tablet sales in Australia, in favour of Apple.
Samsung 1, Apple 0
In an unanimous decision, an Australian federal court found the at the lower court decision to ban the sale had been “clearly wrong and should be set aside.” According to the ruling, however, Samsung may only resume sales of its Galaxy Tab after Friday, after the court granted Apple’s request for the delay. According to a report by Reuters, Justice Lindsay Foster told the court he would grant a stay on orders until Friday 4 p.m. (0500 GMT), noting Apple would have to go to the High Court if it wanted this extended.
While some observers doubt the impact that this will have, others view the timing of this victory as fortuitous, given the upcoming pre-Christmas shopping season.
Song Myung-sub, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities in Seoul told Reuters that it would be difficult to expect the ruling to have a positive impact on Samsung’s tablet business or legal cases in other countries, as Apple could appeal. “Apple will continue to dominate the tablet market as Amazon appears to be the only viable threat at the moment and other vendors, including Samsung, continue to struggle,” he said.
Meanwhile, Apple filed a motion in Germany on Monday for a preliminary injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1N, an aesthetic redesign of the already banned 10.1 model. The hearing is set for 22 December.
The two companies have been embroiled in an on-going, world-wide patent war over their mobile devices, with more than 20 lawsuits in 10 countries.
