Samsung is having a rough go against Apple in Germany, but that’s apparently not setting a precedent for the rest of Europe. The Court of the Hague, in the Netherlands, has denied an appeal from Apple to place an injunction on Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales on grounds of design patent infringement. The Dutch ruling took into account two out of six potential pieces of prior art, though they may take more into consideration later on. Apple has already been shot down once for this case in the Dutch lower courts, and having the appeal denied as well means this case is pretty cut and dry.
It's great to see Samsung is successfully defending their products against what is now amounting to a legal pissing match. Even Australia, which had initially placed a ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1, eventually relented. Can we really expect any injunction against any device to stick just because it kinda-sorta looks like a competitor in its class? Unless they're coming close to copying the name too, I don't see any consumer confusion arising from physical similarities.
You can find the full Dutch court ruling, ripe for Google Translating, over here.
Source: FOSS Patents via iMore
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