German court bans sale of Galaxy Tab 10.1 computers

9 Sep 2011

A court in Germany this morning upheld a decision to ban Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer in the country following an injunction sought by Apple alleging Samsung infringed its patents.

In recent weeks, a Dutch court issued a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy S, the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Ace across Europe.

Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hoffman presided over the court in Dusseldorf this morning. She decided that the overall impression of the tablet is that it is too similar to the design of Apple’s iPad.

The development is the latest in an intellectual property war that has gone global, with Apple suing Samsung in Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia and the US.

Samsung, whose smartphone and tablet devices are based on the Google Android operating system, has countersued Apple.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com