An Australian court this week overturned an October ruling that temporarily banned the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country.
The case stems from a worldwide patent battle being fought between Samsung and Apple, which accuses the Korean company of copying the look and feel of the iPad with its Android-based Galaxy Tab tablets.
"Samsung will be permitted to launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia provided it keeps accounts of all transactions involving that device in Australia or originating from Australia," the full Federal Court of Australia wrote in its Wednesday ruling.
No official release date was discussed.
According to court documents, the full court found that Justice Annabelle Bennett did not adequately assess the strength of Apple's patent claims when she allowed a ban to go into effect last month.
"In our view, her decision was clearly wrong and should be set aside," the full court wrote.
The ban had "a significant impact upon the business of Samsung and the future prospects of the Galaxy Tab 10.1," the court said.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was scheduled to launch in Australia on Sept. 12. But amidst the patent fight with Apple, Samsung in August volunteered not to sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia any earlier than Sept. 30 while the case progressed. That came after Apple convinced a judge to delay Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch, claiming the tablet infringed on various elements of the Apple iPad 2. At the time Samsung's Australian counsel said Apple was basing its claims on the U.S. model, and Samsung agreed to hand to Apple several models of the Australian prototype.
In late September, Apple temporarily excluded two of five patent claims against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. The two dropped patents covered the use of a slider icon that unlocked the tablet's touch screen as well an icon that bounced when zooming.
There were then reports of a deal between the two companies, but nothing materialized before Judge Bennett's decision was handed down.
Apple, meanwhile, has been successful in getting the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned in Germany, too. To get around that, Samsung introduced a slightly modified Galaxy Tab 10.1N, but Dow Jones reports that Apple is also going after the revamped Galaxy Tab. The Düsseldorf Regional Court has scheduled a hearing about the 10.1N for Dec. 22.
"Quite apparently, Apple believes that Samsung's design modifications didn't go far enough," patent expert Florian Mueller wrote in a blog post. "Presumably, Apple will argue on the basis of both a design-related right (a so-called Community design) and rules against unfair competition. Apple did both of that in the summer, but after the court found Apple's asserted Community design infringed, it didn't have to analyze Apple's unfair competition claims. I think there's a greatly increased likelihood that those competition claims will be discussed at the December 22 hearing."
For more, see PCMag's full review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the slideshow below.