German court blocks Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales across most of the EU (Updated)
The indispensable Florian Müller at FOSS Patents relays a report from the German dpa news agency (translated version): sources close to the Apple-Samsung patent dispute in Europe say that a district court in Düsseldorf has issued an injunction barring sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 across the entire European Union, with the exception of the Netherlands. This follows last week's official postponement of the Tab's Australian launch due to the local version of the same infringement claims.
It may seem odd that an injunction in Germany could impact the entire EU, but a cursory reading of the relevant case law seems to support that -- we're inquiring with actual lawyers to find out. Also odd, though, is the fact that dpa cites Reuters as a source for this story, but there does not seem to be a corresponding Reuters piece out there. We'll keep an ear out. The Telegraph has a few more details. [The reference to Reuters was a mistranslation on our part, our apologies. –Ed.]
Apple's complaint is before the ITC, which could have much wider effects in the long run -- although the lead time on a resolution is also much longer.
Update: Bloomberg News now has confirmation of the injunction from an Apple spokesperson.
