German court denies Apple an injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1N

A court in Dusseldorf, Germany has determined that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N can be continue to be sold in that country while Apple’s lawsuit heads for trial. Apple had hoped to prevent sales of the device until a permanent ruling was available (which Apple hopes would lead to a permanent sales ban).

The court determined that the 10.1N is distinct enough that consumers were unlikely to confuse it with Apple’s tablets, so it does not infringe on Apple’s EU design patents (referred to as Community Design patents in Europe). This and similarrulings call into question whether design patents will prove to be a significant asset in Apple’s legal attacks on Android phone makers.

Apple will get a chance to make its case during trial, and it’s not inconceivable that Apple could end up winning on one or more of their design patents, but at this point it seems like more of a long shot than it did back when Apple got a preliminary injunction on the original Galaxy Tab 10.1. It also shows that the time and resources Samsung invested on the 10.1N redesign was money well spent.

It also bodes well for Motorola (soon to be Googerola) as Apple is asserting the same design patents against some MMI products – despite the fact that Motorola’s phones and tablets are almost universally considered to be more distinctive from Apple’s products then are Samsung’s.

source: FOSS Patents