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German Court Upholds Ban On Samsung Galaxy Tab

Posted by Soulskill on from the win-some-lose-some dept.

With his first posted submission, ctusch writes "It seems Samsung has finally lost the battle against Apple in Germany. Today the district court in Düsseldorf ruled that Samsung must not sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany. Furthermore, it has banned Samsung Germany from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 anywhere in Europe."

10 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. Apple by Haedrian · · Score: 5, Funny

    Driving innovation in the field of shapes forward.

    1. Re:Apple by Haedrian · · Score: 5, Funny

      Its a ROUNDED rectangle.

      I wrote the innovation in allcaps so you wouldn't miss it.

    2. Re:Apple by wsxyz · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well it doesn't really matter because it's a well known fact that German judges make their decisions by drinking a few liters of beer and then flipping a coin.
      I mean, it's not like anyone who actually considered the evidence and listened to the arguments would find for Apple.

    3. Re:Apple by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 5, Funny

      The judge probably had the decision written on an iPad.

      "I find in favor of Sam^H^H^H...what...uh...oh, here it is: Apple! I could have sworn I wrote something different, earlier."

  2. Can anyone tell me... by recoiledsnake · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can anyone tell me why this isn't prior art?

    http://techcrunch.com/2009/07/04/crunchpad-prototype-coming-this-month-be-available-asap/
    http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/21/we-want-a-dead-simple-web-tablet-help-us-build-it/

    --
    This space for rent.
    1. Re:Can anyone tell me... by uniquename72 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Apple claims to own rectangular tablet computers with rounded corners and cameras on the front that can be used in portrait mode.

      Interesting, considering that the first iPad didn't have a front-facing camera, and those of us who thought that was a ridiculous oversight were called Apple-hating trolls and told that a camera would be a useless addition.

  3. Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Too bad Apple can't sell their iDevices on their own merits, rather than snuffing out the competition!

  4. Finally? by SwedishChef · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to the story Samsung Germany is appealing the decision so it's probably not "final". In addition, the ruling only bans Samsung Germany from selling into the EU marketplace; other Samsung divisions can sell into it.

    --
    No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
  5. "Minimalistic Design" by RightSaidFred99 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Apple Defenders are cracking me up defending this.

    The judge had the gall to say "The court is of the opinion that Apple's minimalistic design isn't the only technical solution to make a tablet computer". Seriously.

    If you don't understand how absolutely ridiculous that is, the idea of a "minimalistic design" (even if you then go into details about silly things like rounded corners, no buttons, etc...) as something you can own, then there's simply no hope for you.

    Germany's a bit nutty anyway, so I don't put too much stock in it. Worst case Samsung should just add a little button somewhere, change a few angles here or there, and resell. Then it can continue the slow domination of Apple again.

  6. Re:The relevant piece of so-called "IP" by Ster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I came across this yesterday and found it interesting (comparisons of what Samsung's tablets looked like before and after the iPad came out):

    It seems like it's not quite as silly as it's usually been presented. (Don't get me wrong, I do think it's silly.)

    -Ster