Galaxy Tab 7.7 to be Banned in Europe after Apple Wins Injunction

Apple AAPL has won an injunction against its primary competitor, Samsung, in the ongoing battle surrounding iPad copycats. Apple has continually claimed that Samsung's product infringes on the design of the iPad. According to ZDNet, a German court has decided that it agrees with that assessment. This ruling does not impact the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, a larger Samsung-developed tablet that another German court had previously ruled did not infringe on Apple's designs. This week, the court upheld that ruling. But while design patents (also referred to as 'community designs') can be enforced across all European Union nations, ZDNet reports that there is one hurdle for Apple to overcome: in the United Kingdom, a High Court judge ruled that Samsung did not infringe on Apple's designs. In the ruling, Judge Colin Birss reportedly spoke about the Galaxy Tab 10 but referred to all Samsung tablets when he said they were not as cool as Apple's iPad. The judge took things one step further when he told Apple that it should publish ads announcing that its South Korean competitor did not copy the iPad's design. Which ruling takes precedent in banning Samsung's products? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, both Apple and Samsung are left with victories that may or may not prove to be helpful in gaining an edge over the competition. But even the best of victories can be overturned. Last November, an Australian court lifted a ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that was imposed by a lower court. Three months later, Apple paid $5 million to settle a case with Elan Microelectronics Corp. This year, Apple parted with another $60 million to settle a trademark dispute in China. Most recently, Apple has ran into some trouble after a few Chinese firms sued the company for patent infringement. Though it did not receive much media attention, Apple's former chief patent counsel left the firm in July 2011. The reasons for his departure were unclear, but it could have something to do with the overwhelming number of cases that plagued the company over the last 12 months. From a settlement with Nokia NOK and numerous battles with HTC to a number of disputes with Samsung, Apple is easily one of the most litigious corporations in technology manufacturing. Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ