Apple might have paid Nokia a royalty in the super patent battle that most handheld companies are involved in, but they are giving a tough time to Samsung. Apple and Samsung are deep into a patent battle which has apparently gone global with both companies suing each other in multiple countries. After having delayed the Australia launch of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Apple has now scored a big one in EU. Apple has been granted a preliminary injunction by a German court in its complaint against Samsung for copying iPads design in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The injunction is valid across the European Union (except Netherlands, where Apple is fighting an independent case against Samsung) and applies immediately in Germany to begin with. The German laws imposes fines and even imprisonment of company employees if the preliminary injunction is not honored. Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents suggests that Germany is pretty strict in case of patent suits and an injunction against a valid patent claim is always granted. Samsung sure has a tough time ahead.
Incidentally just as we hear this news, we realise that the official launch of the Samsung 10.1-inch tablet in India is today. They have for some reason named it Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 in India. This may be a version that is either different from what the disputed US version is or just a different name. We are sure questions would be thrown at Samsung about this.
