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Apple's Australian Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban overturned for now

Apple's Australian Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban overturned for now

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In a unanimous decision, the Australian Federal Court has just overturned Apple's patent-related injunction on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which would mean Samsung's tablet can go back on sale in that country. Apple's asked for an appeal.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review

In a unanimous decision, the Australian Federal Court has just overturned Apple's patent-related injunction on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which would mean Samsung's tablet can go back on sale in that country. It won't happen right away, though: according to ZDNet Australia's Luke Hopewell, the presiding judge also ordered that the ruling be stayed until Friday so Apple can appeal the decision to the High Court, leaving things status quo for consumers.

It's been a busy day for Apple and Samsung in courtrooms around the world, actually — earlier today Apple asked the German court to ban Samsung's revised Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which features an altered design intended to work around Apple's European design registration on the iPad. The Australian injunction is more involved and is based on specific technical patents Apple claims Samsung infringed with the Tab 10.1, so this is a big win; Samsung won't be able to design around Apple's claims in Australia quite as easily. We'll see what happens next — full reports should be incoming shortly.

Update: Here's the official statement we just got from Apple — sounds like they'll be keeping things close to the chest until Friday:

It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we've said many times before, we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.

We've pinged Samsung as well, we'll let you know when we hear something back.

Thanks, Todd and Dy4me