German consumers who were looking to get their hands on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 are still out of luck. The Düsseldorf Regional Court on Friday upheld its preliminary injunction against Samsung, a ruling that stems from a patent lawsuit filed by Apple.
The ruling means that a previous ban on selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany remains. As noted by patent blogger Florian Mueller, "Samsung has exhausted its options with the Düsseldorf Regional Court on the fast track," but it does have options.
Samsung could appeal the decision to the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Higher Regional Court) in another fast-track proceeding there, which could get the preliminary injunction lifted "within a couple of months," Mueller wrote. Whether Samsung takes any action or not, Apple's full patent lawsuit "continues automatically," he said.
"The preliminary injunction stays in force until it is either overturned by the Higher Regional Court in a fast-track appeals proceeding or by the (lower) Regional Court at the end of the full-blown main proceeding, which would probably take about a year," Mueller said.
If that full lawsuit finds that the fast-track proceeding ruled correctly, the preliminary injunction becomes permanent and Germany loses out on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. If it goes the other way, though, Apple is liable to Samsung for damages, Mueller said.
But as he pointed out, the judge in today's proceeding didn't actually say "Galaxy Tab 10.1"—she just said "Galaxy Tab."
"The way the judge reportedly pronounced today's decision, Samsung won't be able to promote or sell any new products in Germany that infringe the successfully-enforced Community design for as long as the injunction is in force. In other words, if Samsung came out (hypothetically speaking) with a Galaxy Tab 9.0, it seems the injunction would apply," Mueller said.
The Galaxy Tab drama started last month when the Dusseldorf court blocked the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe, with the exception of the Netherlands. Amidst questions over whether a German court had the right to ban a Korean company from selling its wares outside Germany, the court later tightened its ruling and only applied the ban to sales within Germany.
Also last month, a Dutch court imposed an EU-wide preliminary injunction against Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Samsung, meanwhile, cited Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" in its defense against Apple here in the states.
The patent dispute between Apple and Samsung 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.
Yesterday, there were reports that Apple extended its battle against Samsung to Japan.
At IFA in Berlin last week, meanwhile, Samsung expanded its Galaxy family with the announcement of a 7.7-inch Galaxy Tab, and the Galaxy Note, a smartphone that blurs the tablet-phone line with its sprawling 5-inch screen and bundled stylus for quick memo-taking.
For more, see PCMag's hands on with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the slideshow below.