G’day, mates. At least, it’s a good Monday for us. Australians, on the other hand, have just been excluded from all the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 fun as a result of the continuing patent battle between Samsung and Apple. During a break in the hearing, both parties reached an agreement whereby Samsung would stop advertising the Tab 10.1 in Australia and not sell the device until Samsung wins court approval or the lawsuit itself comes to a conclusion.
One of Apple’s lawyers, Steven Burley, claimed that Samsung’s newest 10-inch tablet infringes on 10 Apple patents related to the iPad, concerning both the external design and certain facets of the touchscreen technology. Of course, if a judge rules in favor of Samsung on this one, then Apple has agreed to pay unspecified damages for time wasted and profits forfeited, reports Bloomberg.
The Outback isn’t the only place where Samsung may face trouble. Though the Cupertino-based company has not divulged all the details, it’s clear that Apple will try to seek import bans in countries other than Australia. And before you go getting all angry with Apple, know that Samsung started it. At least when it comes to the import bans.
Samsung filed with the United States International Trade Commission at the end of June asking to ban imports of iStuff. An official decision has yet to be reached. Then again, neither company would be in this mess at all if Apple hadn’t come after Samsung in the first place, crying copycat and patent infringement all the way to the courtroom.
The patent-infringing Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the version meant to be distributed in the U.S. According to Samsung’s lawyers, the Australian version of the tablet is different, and Apple will have a chance to review three units of the Aussie’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 at least a week before Samsung plans to launch the device.