Australian Court gives Apple a preliminary ban against the sale of the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1

On the eve of a hearing in the U.S. to determine if Apple can get a preliminary injunction against the sale of certain Samsung devices in the States, an Australian Court has ruled in favor of the Cupertino based firm in a similar case. On Wednesday, a Federal Court in Australia ruledin favor of Apple's request for a temporary ban against the sale of the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 tablet in the country. The tablet is one of the devices that Apple is seeking to block sales of in the U.S. along with the sizzling hot Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone and the Samsung Droid Charge smartphone.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Justice Annabelle Bennett ruled on Thursday that Apple had presented enough evidence to show that they were infringed upon by the Korean based manufacturer on patents related to touchscreens and multitouch. The suit will now move to a full-hearing stage. Samsung had voluntarily stopped selling the tablet in the country while awaiting the court's ruling. The company has said that if they miss offering the tablet during the Christmas season because of the preliminary injunction, they will no longer plan on selling it in Australia because by then the device will be "dead" by the time it could be launched.

Last month, Samsung tried to reach a deal with Apple that would allow the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 to launch in the country, but Apple turned it down. The tablet is already permanently banned from being sold in Germany because of a court ruling in that country. the legal battle between Apple and Samsung started earlier this year when the latter was accused by the former of copying the design of the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad in the design of some new products being made by Samsung.

source: SydneyMorningHerald via AppleInsider