The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, the latest tablet PC to be unveiled by the tech giant, has been removed from display at the IFA show in Berlin, after a court banned sales of the device in Germany.
Sales of device banned in Germany
The tablet PC, which was first unveiled by Samsung last week, features a 7.7in Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1,280x800 and is powered by a 1.4GHz processor.
Running Honeycomb 3.2, the version of the Google Android platform specifically aimed at tablet PCs, the 335g device comes with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity along with HSPA access of 21Mbps and a battery life that offers 10 hours of video playback.
However, on Friday last week (September 2) the Regional Court of Dusseldorf granted Apple an injunction that prevents the tablet PC being sold in Germany. This isn't the first ban on Samsung products from the Dusseldorf court either.
Last month, the same court granted a temporary injunction to stop the sales of the device in Europe after Apple claimed the latest iteration of Samsung's tablet PC infringes Apple patents for the iPad and the iPhone.
"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 we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas," Apple said.
The ban was lifted in all EU countries except Germany a week later, as the court was unsure whether it had the power to stop sales in the whole of the EU.
In a separate case regarding sales in the Netherlands, a preliminary ban on sales of Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones as well as tablet PCs will be imposed after October 13, as the court believes they too infringe Apple's patents.
"Samsung respects the court's decision," James Chung, a Seoul-based spokesman for Samsung told Bloomberg. He added the company believes it "severely limits consumer choice in Germany." Samsung will pursue all available options, including legal action, to defend its intellectual property rights, he said.
Samsung has responded by suing Apple, claiming the tech giant has infringed patents it holds for wireless technology.
Comments
Robertrebor said: it is as bad as a certain software company wanting to stop Glaziers from selling Windows because they had copyrighted the name
condom said: Im not surprised they feel threatened as the iPad 2 is not as good as the iPad 1 The new design is not at allfunctional and plugging the Apple gadgets for adding your photos etc cause problems as the gadget remains very loose due to the curved design Why have the Apple design people gone in different directions with the iPhone and the iPad The phone has gone to a block shape whilst the iPad had gone to the former iPhone 3 shape
Guest said: apple feel threatened