Give this round to Apple. A German court has granted Apple a preliminary injunction in its patent dispute with Samsung. The ruling, which is on the grounds of community design infringement by Samsung, effectively halts all sales and advertisements of the Galaxy 10.1 across the European Union (EU).
According to EU Law, German trademark rulings have a multinational effect, which in this case impacts all fellow members with the exception of the Netherlands (where patent laws differ). With the official European Launch only a week ago, Samsung must now immediately remove all Galaxy Tabs from store shelves and halt all advertising.
Samsung and Apple have been going head to head over accusations of patent infringement across the globe. While Samsung can appeal, it will take four weeks to file and must be heard by the original ruling judge.
While Samsung can put on a public showing of confidence regarding the results of an appeal, unlike some of the recent patent infringement rulings, this one has the potential to really hurt.
[via androidcentral]
