Apple forces EU-wide sales ban of the Galaxy Tab 7.7

The latest round of the Apple vs Samsung saga comes from Germany. The ruling today from the courts of Dusseldorf higher court suggest that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 infringes upon the design of the iPad, and as a result the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is now banned from sale across the European Union.

“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s ruling,” it said in a statement. “We will continue to take all available measures, including legal action, to protect our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple’s claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European Union.”

This latest ruling would suggest the ban applies in the UK too, since the UK is part of the European Union. However, the UK courts gave a ruling a few weeks back stating the Samsung Galaxy Tab did not infringe on the design of the iPad – so trying to enforce this ruling would contradict that one.

“Samsung welcomes the court’s ruling which confirms our position that the Galaxy Tab 10.1N does not infringe Apple’s intellectual property and does not infringe laws against unfair competition,” said Samsung. “Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”

Unfortunately this is another blow for consumer competition. Hopefully the ruling can be overturned through appeal, giving consumes a full range of tablets to choose from – instead of range of tablets that the “almighty Apple” sees as fit for the consumers.

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