A Düsseldorf court has temporarily reversed a portion of a preliminary injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, allowing the company to sell the tablet outside of Germany.
Patent blogger Florian Mueller confirmed the news with the Düsseldorf court and said the "simple version" of the story is that "nothing changes for German customers, but Samsung's Korean parent company is free to sell again—for the time being—in EU countries outside of Germany."
That could change again at an August 25 hearing, but for now, Samsung is no longer banned from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe, except in Germany.
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At issue is Apple's patent battle against Samsung, which accused Samsung of copying the look and feel of iOS devices with its Galaxy line of products. Earlier this month, the Regional Court of Düsseldorf sided with Apple when it blocked the sale and import of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the European Union, save for the Netherlands.
According to Mueller, today's reversal isn't a judgment on the merits of Apple's case. Instead, it questions whether a German court has the right to enjoin a Korean company from selling products outside of Germany.
"I believe Samsung has a pretty good chance that this temporary partial suspension will result in a partial reversal of the preliminary injunction decision at next week's hearing," Mueller wrote.
The decision, however is "an unpleasant situation for Apple," he continued. "Should the court really find that the Düsseldorf court didn't have personal jurisdiction over a Korean company, this would reinforce a lot of people's impression that Apple's enforcement of design-related rights is, even though understandable to a certain degree, overreaching in some areas."
The patent dispute between Apple and Samsung, meanwhile, began in April, when Apple sued Samsung for copying the look and feel of its iPhone and iPad in its flagship Galaxy S line of smartphones and tablets, among other devices. Samsung responded with a countersuit that targeted Apple for infringing on five patents relating to wireless networking technology.
For more, see PCMag's review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi and the slideshow below.