Apple’s injunction on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia was overturned today in a unanimous decision by the Australian Federal Court. Things are a little more complicated though, because Apple will likely appeal the decision all the way to the High Court of Australia. Consequently the presiding judge has ordered that the ruling be stayed until Friday to give Apple some time to lodge the appeal. One must also remember that this was only a temporary injunction before the full trial starts around March next year.
The Verge has gotten an official statement from Apple regarding the ruling:
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.
On a related note, Apple yesterday asked a German court to ban Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1N - an altered version of the Galaxy Tab that was specifically designed to work around the European design registrations that Apple holds for the iPad. If Apple is successful with this preliminary injunction, it will be the fourth variant of the Galaxy Tab that they have been successful in temporarily halting sales for (previous versions are the 7.7, 8.9 and 10.1).
[Via The Verge]
