A German court upheld an injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country today, but the ruling was based on a rather broad German unfair competition law rather than a violation of an Apple patent design.
The smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9, meanwhile, was also added to the list of banned Samsung products in Germany.
A ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been in effect since August, when a 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.
In a Tuesday post, patent blogger Florian Mueller said today's ruling validates Apple's decision to pursue the Galaxy Tab ban. "Apple's actions may have been aggressive, but they weren't unreasonably overreaching," he wrote. In Cupertino's favor was the fact that Germany's unfair competition law "is almost a 'catch-all' kind of law that is applicable to a wide variety of commercial issues," Mueller wrote.
However, today's ruling, from the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, calls into question the strength of Apple's design-related claims.
"Apple can't replicate the German decision in other countries since German unfair competition law is pretty unique," Mueller wrote. "A win based on an EU-wide design right would have been strategically more valuable to Apple. Even though Samsung formally lost its appeal because the preliminary injunction remains in force, it succeeded in defeating Apple's design right."
To get around the ban, meanwhile, Samsung introduced a modified tablet, dubbed the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which sports a metal frame or bezel that wraps all the way around the edge of the tablet. It hit the German market the week of Nov. 21, and not surprisingly, Apple also sought to have the 10.1N included in its lawsuit.
A ruling on the 10.1N is expected by Feb. 9, but last month, a German judge said Apple is unlikely to win a ban on the modified tablet.
In a statement, Samsung said it was disappointed by today's ruling, but noted that "today's ruling is of little factual relevance due to the new model Galaxy Tab 10.1N."
"Samsung will continue to take all appropriate measures, including legal action, to ensure continued consumer access to our innovative products," a spokesman said.
As Mueller wrote, meanwhile, the decisions are thus far preliminary. "What matters most is the full-blown main proceeding in which Apple's design-related claims against a total of 15 Samsung products are at issue," he wrote. "It's too early to tell what the outcome of that case will be."
In recent weeks, a separate German court has dismissed two of Samsung's claims against Apple.
Earlier today, the European Commission opened an investigation into Samsung's patent suits against Apple, which will look into whether Samsung has used its patents to "distort competition" in the European mobile market with its lawsuits against Apple.