Apple Wins A Significant Battle Against Samsung – Galaxy Tab 10.1 Off The Shelves In Europe

The lawyer that advised Samsung Electronics to take on Apple over the IP dispute might have lost his job already.  They would have settled long ago.  They lost the DRAM business which they have held for ages now with Apple. They also lost in the production of the A series microprocessor. A series chips are the microprocessors Apple designs internally which power most of their systems and products.

Now, Apple just added a big one. Apple won a huge victory on Tuesday in its campaign against Samsung Electronics over alleged intellectual-property infringements. The EU legal system has asked Samsung to stop the sell of Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Europe.  The  injunction from Germany extends to 26 countries that belong to the European Union, excluding the Netherlands.  Apple has filed a separate suit to cover Netherlands which has a slightly different legal jurisprudence in this type of case.

Yet, it is important to note that this injunction can be reversed in hours, but now, it is in effect. An Apple spokeswoman confirmed that the company had received notice of the injunction ruling.

“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,” Apple has said. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Apple requested a similar injunction against Samsung in an Australia federal court a week ago. As a result, Samsung postponed the launch of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 there.

“A Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the Australian market will be released in the near future,” Samsung said in a statement. “Samsung will continue to actively defend and protect our intellectual property to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communication business.”

Apple is also pursuing its infringement claims in other countries, including in U.S. courts. Do not worry if you hope to buy Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Africa. There is no indication that Apple is pushing for injunction in any African court. It is not likely they will do that owing to the slow sales and smaller markets in most African nations. Also, it will be very expensive to do that. African Union has not formed into one business entity and that means Apple has to sue individually in each nation and that will be a colossal waste of resources for the small and fragmented markets. Yet, they can decide to try in South Africa and Nigeria. But so far, Tekedia does not have any knowledge of any suit in Africa from Apple in this regards.