Samsung can sell Galaxy Tab 10.1N in Germany, rules court

A ruling delivered by the state court in Düsseldorf, Germany has dealt the final blow to Apple’s hopes of banning the sales of the Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1N in the country. Confirming their views on the reworked version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, exclusively for the German market, the court stated that it saw “clear differences” between the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and the iPad. Early this month, when reports about the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone evading the sales ban in Germany were doing rounds, after a higher regional court in Düsseldorf dismissed Apple’s appeal; there were also reports about a separate hearing for the Galaxy Tab 10.1N at a lower, Dusseldorf court, scheduled for a hearing in the coming week. 

Can sell...

In mid-November, last year, there were reports about Samsung reworking the design of their ambitious Galaxy Tab 10.1 to evade a sales ban in Germany. Now, called the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, exclusively for the German market, the tablet had several aspects that were reworked on by Samsung, which included the tablet frame design, speaker placement and the model number. While Samsung hoped that the reworked design would help them stay in the market without coming in Apple's way, the same did not happen. Soon after, reports confirmed that Apple found the reworked Galaxy Tab 10.1N to still be a copy of their iPad; the court, however, disagreed stating that by reworking the design, Samsung had sufficiently moved away from the previous design.  Now that all barricades in Samsung's way, at least those in Germany have been lifted, Samsung can safely sell their Galaxy Tab 10.1N in Germany.

Friends turned foes, Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics have been battling it out, since a while now over a set of infringed patents. Over the course of the months, however, the battle has intensified, with both the companies leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that their products reign supreme in the market. Samsung's victory in Germany is definitely crucial to the South Korean company, considering that Germany is an important market in Europe.

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