UPDATE: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban temporarily lifted
Update 16.08.11 5pm
The ban on European sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been temporarily lifted while a court decides if the original ruling was appropriate.
Questions were raised over whether the Dusseldorf court had the right to impose an EU-wide ban on sales of the device. However, the ban is still in place in Germany.
Apple is also facing accusations that the document that helped it gain the original injunction appears to misrepresent the device's similarity to the iPad.
A side-by-side comparison of the two tablets features a "squashed" picture of the Galaxy Tab, making it look identical in size and shape, according to the BBC.
Update 16.08.11 9.30am
Samsung's appeal against the European ban on sales of its Samsung's Galaxy 10.1 tablet will be heard in a Dusseldorf court on August 25th.
The Korean electronics giant is trying to overturn an international injunction brought by Apple, which claimed Samsung had copied elements of the iPad 2.
Apple is also attempting to obtain an injunction in the Netherlands, the only European country not currently covered by the ban.
A decision on the EU embargo is expected within a couple of weeks of the German court hearing next week.
Published 10.08.11
Samsung's Galaxy 10.1 tablet, which went on sale last week, must be removed from sale in Europe and the company must stop marketing it, according to The Daily Telegraph. Customs officers have been ordered to seize shipments of the device.
This folllows a ruling in the Regional Court of Dusseldorf which has granted arch-rival Apple a preliminary injunction against the sale and marketing of the Samsung tablet in all European countries except the Netherlands.
The judge backed Apple's claim that Samsung's Galaxy 10.1 had infringed on its intellectual property and copied elements of the iPad 2.
Although Samsung can appeal against the judgment, the injunction will still stand in the meantime. Any appeal would be heard in about four weeks' time.
An Apple spokesman told The Telegraph: "It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas."
Samsung said in reply: "Samsung is disappointed with the court's decision and we intend to act immediately to defend our intellectual property rights through the ongoing legal proceedings in Germany and will continue to actively defend these rights throughout the world."
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Comments
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that a (regional, no less) judge at a courthouse in Germany can take products off the shelf in the UK. If they want the Galaxy tab barred from retail sales in the UK, Apple should have to get a judge in the UK to side with them - that goes for all the other EU countries too.
As for the comment about Asia/Australia if memory serves Apple already has had the Galaxy tab restricted from being sold there too - I think I remember reading that in the last few weeks as Samsung then said something silly along the lines that they never intended to sell it there. I know with intellectual property you apparently have to fight in order to defend your rights but this fight between Apple and Samsung seems especially mean spirited. If you read the press releases by the two companies concerning the lawsuit/s they are unusually strongly worded. At least it should be interesting to watch as this plays out throughout the world, this is shaping up to be a knockout, drag-out fight to the death - though hard to take Apple down since they have over $76,000,000,000 USD cash in the bank which is more than the GDP of Luxembourg and Iceland combined! I should say I am writing this on an iMac with an iPhone and iPad within my iArms reach, but its hard for me to side with Apple on this one as the hardware may be superficially similar but as has already been pointed out thats hard to avoid and the interface isn't that similar. Personally think they have a much stronger case with the iPhone case as the equivalent Samsung did seem to even copy the icons, never-mind the layout and plenty of other 'smart' phones have come out without doing that. If we learn anything from this, it should be that intellectual property laws need a drastic overhaul. Gods that was a long post, apologies!!!
Clare ...... Tongue in cheek, I'd say the Samsung USB connector hardware was better - the sleeving around the cable entry point to the connectors is longer therefore offers better protection against potential cable strain when in use - LOL.
If Apple tries the same heavy-handed approach in Asian/Pacific markets, Samsung will tell them to
EDITED BY MODS for inappropriate language
. In high-volume, fiercely competitive gadget/technology markets such as those in Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, any anti-competitive manoevres by an American corporation such as Apple would get the dismissive response it deserves.
Companies like Samsung, HTC etc. make great mobile technology products. Who needs Apple - I don't and I wouldn't buy an Apple product, on principle.
I feel sorry for Steve Jobs!
I am sure Karma will seek him out, just has it has before
How did you get Android onto an iPad?
Shocking that Sony and Panasoinc ect haven't been to court over the fact that their TV's look simular, i mean they all look the same right?
Apple is the new Micro$oft
Got to laugh really haven't you? It's so silly.
What more of an endorsement could Apple give to Samsung eh?
Apple show themselves in their true, petty, grasping colours.
Ridiculous – the difference is black and white, even to the layman...
Here's the point Apple is making about the hardware interface (though it'd be tough to know how the USB end of the equation is supposed to look radically different...)
Come on! Of course the Galaxy tab looks like an iPad, how else would a touch screen tablet look? It's like saying two different makes of telephone look alike, because they have an earpiece and buttons to dial a number on.
Aren't Apple infringing anything, for example their desktop computers look suspiciously like PCs, as they have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Blatant copying.