A German court has granted Apple a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, preventing the sale of the recently released tablet across Europe, excluding the Netherlands.
FOSS Patents reports that the temporary order was granted due to an alleged infringement of the iPad’s design.
Samsung can appeal this, but the injunction will still stand in the meantime. The same judge could hear an appeal in four weeks.
The Netherlands has different laws in place for this matter and Apple is filing a separate case there.
A Samsung spokesperson told The Next Web that the request for the injunction was filed with no notice to Samsung and was issued without hearing evidence from Samsung.
The spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the court’s decision and will act “immediately” to defend its intellectual property rights to make the tablet available in Europe again.
While the injunction comes into effect immediately, Apple will have to complete some paperwork in order to enforce it.
It’s the latest step in Apple and Samsung’s bitter legal dispute, which has mostly involved patents. Apple claims Samsung’s Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets infringes on its iPhone and iPad patents. Apple has already managed to prevent a Galaxy Tab 10.1 variant from being sold in Australia.
The Wi-Fi version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was only released in Ireland last week. There were also plans to release a Wi-Fi and 3G model of the tablet later this month.
