“The Düsseldorf Regional Court has denied Apple’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, a modified version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned by the same court in August 2011,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents.
“The court determined that the 10.1N is reasonably distinct from Apple’s products and, therefore, does not constitute an infringement of Apple’s Community design (the EU equivalent of a U.S. design patent) or the German law against unfair competition,” Mueller reports. “The appeals court had held the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 to violate competition law. But it appears that Samsung’s designaround (modifications of product design in order to steer clear of further violation) has done the job.”
Mueller reports, “It’s important to understand that today’s decision is merely the denial of a preliminary injunction. In parallel to all those efforts to have different Samsung tablets banned as a result of fast-track proceedings, Apple continues to assert four different design-related rights against ten Samsung smartphones and five Samsung tablets, including the ones against which Apple sought preliminary injunctions. That case will take more time to be resolved (I guess we’re talking about a year or more just for the regional court, plus a possible appeals proceeding before a higher regional court).”
Read more in the full article here.