Samsung’s unreleased Galaxy Tab 7.7 faces German ban
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Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet computer isn’t even out yet, but it has been banned from being sold in Germany.
The newest model in the Galaxy Tab lineup, was unveiled last week at the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin, but Samsung removed the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from its show booth after a Dusseldorf regional court granted Apple a second temporary injunction in its patent fight with the Korean consumer electronics maker, according to a Bloomberg news report.
‘Samsung respects the court’s decision,’ though the company also believes such rulings ‘severely limits consumer choice in Germany,’ James Chung, a Seoul-based spokesman for Samsung, told Bloomberg.
Chung said Samsung would consider legal action to get the injunctions overturned in its patent fight with Apple. In Germany, sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 were halted in a court injunction in early August. Both of the injunctions against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the unreleased Galaxy Tab 7.7 are temporary and could be lifted if Samsung were to win in its patent dispute against Apple there.
In Australia, Samsung voluntarily stopped selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 until its patent dispute with Apple can be sorted out. Meanwhile, the two tech giants are locked in the same patent-suit battle in other parts of Europe and the U.S. At the center of the disputes are accusations from Apple that Samsung has ripped off its iPhone and iPad with the look and feel of the Galaxy phone and Galaxy Tab product lines.
A court in the Netherlands also handed down a temporary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Ace smartphones last month.
While Apple and Samsung are competitors and battling across continents in these parent fights, the two companies are also business partners, with Samsung making displays and internal components for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
One Galaxy gadget that has yet to face any injunctions: the Samsung Galaxy Note, a 5.3-inch touchscreen device running on Google’s Android operating system.
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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles