German appeals court upholds Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction

The legal fight between Apple and Samsung has reached another milestone today in the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. Apple scored another victory against the South Korean company when the appeals court upheld a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and confirmed that the smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9 also falls within the scope of that same injunction.

Although this is what Apple expected to hear, it did not come in a way they would have wanted: the appeals court based its decision on a violation of the German Unfair Competition Law, while the lower court’s ruling was based on a finding of a violation of a Community Design, which is the European equivalent of a U.S. Design Patent.

In other words, although Apple won the battle, the victory was not as sweet as it was supposed to be, because the judge did not pronounce a design patent infringement.

What the Düsseldorf judge’s ruling might suggest is that Apple’s Community design is questionable. If we put the Düsseldorf and Hagen courts’ rulings side-by-side, what we find is that Apple’s claims are disputable. The Dutch appeals court did not find that Samsung commited an infringement while narrowing the scope of that design-related right.

However, Apple has won a temporary injunction against the Galaxy Tabs 10.1 and 8.9 in Germany – but they expected to win it on a EU-wide design right, which did not happen. This makes one point for Samsung, because it defeated Apple’s design right.

The consequences of the Düsseldorf appeals court ruling: the Galaxy 10.1 and 8.9 are out, but the Galaxy Tab 10.1N is still in. This diminishes the commercial relevance of today’s appellate decision.

What is more important now for Apple, is to sit down and gather its forces, while the EU Commission weakens Samsung’s 3G-related patent claims with its full-blown investigation.

via: Foss Patents