Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban lifted across Europe, except Germany
The Dusseldorf regional court made the announcement that the ban would be lifted for countries outside of Germany on Tuesday, but sales of the tablet are still barred in the court's home country, according to The Wall Street Journal. A court spokesman reportedly said it's unclear whether the court can ban Samsung, a South Korean company, from selling goods outside of Germany.
However, Samsung's German-based operations are still barred from selling the device throughout the entire European Union, including the Netherlands. Samsung, in a statement, said it welcomed the court's decision.
The reversal comes just one week after the German court blocked the sale of Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 10.1 across the European Union for alleged patent violations. A judge in the Regional Court of Dusseldorf found that the touchscreen tablet infringed on the patented design of the iPad 2.
Prior to the ban, the device had gone on sale in the U.K., but the initial decision meant Samsung would have to remove it from store shelves and cease marketing it in Britain. But Tuesday's reversal would suggest that Samsung can once again begin selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.K. and other countries outside of Germany in Europe.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 remains banned in Australia, where a local court also found that the device could be in violation of Apple's patented design for the iPad 2. As a result, Samsung was forced to delay the launch of its new tablet in Australia until the legal dispute can be resolved.
The legal spat between Apple and Samsung began in April, when Apple sued Samsung in the U.S. and accused the company of violating patents relating to the iPhone and iPad. Samsung has responded in kind with its own patent infringement suits against Apple.
Separate lawsuits filed by each company with the U.S. International Trade Commission have asked that each others' products be banned from importation because of alleged patent infringement. But the ITC has not taken to such drastic measures in America.
38 Comments
Banning this might even create some desire to possess one.
Given that the EU has a free flow of goods and services, I wonder if the legal problem isn't just with the temporary ban until the case has been decided in full. The EU has complex rules about what happens between countries in cases like this, e.g. it could for instance be that the court ruling in Germany has some sort of semi-automatic working on other countries and that a case there does not need to be tried on the merits of the arguments, but only technically in a legal sense if there has been another case somewhere in the EU.
Can someone explain what the situation is?
The idea that a product could be banned without a full hearing is absolutely stupid in the first place....
These look and feel suits with be the death of consumer electronics IMHO..... Sooner or later there will be more legal cost attached to a device that the manufacturing costs...
The world courts are going to have to stop this crap now!!!!
Important takeaway:A German court has reversed its decision from last week and partly lifted the ban on sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe, because it is unclear whether the court has the authority to impose the injunction outside of Germany.
Fair enough. Time to put it before a court that *can* rule on it.
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/16/...lly-suspended/
The injunction was issued against both the Korean parent company and its German subsidiary, and there is some legal ambiguity as to whether the parent company should be considered to have an "establishment" in Germany and thus be subject to such international injunctions. If Samsung Korea is determined to not have an establishment in Germany, Apple's case for an international injunction against the company would be required to go through specific courts in Alicante, Spain.
Sounds like a plan.
Keep pushing, Apple.
So what is it? Barred or not. I just woke up but the second and third paragraph seem contradictory.