German court allows Samsung to sell tablets

Germany's regional court in Duesseldorf has ruled that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd's redesigned Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet computer was now sufficiently different from Apple Inc.'s iPad, allowing for the devices to be sold in Germany. Apple has claimed that the Samsung's Galaxy Tab infringed its patent rights and asked that the units be banned in Germany.

The court also said that following the design changes that Samsung took on, the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N does not contravene competition law. Apple's iPad computers and Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablets are rival products of equal value, the court added.

Last November, Germany's Duesseldorf court temporarily banned Samsung from selling its previous Galaxy Tab 10.1 unit, saying that the device copied the iPad's look and feel. Now the court finds that the changes Samsung made to the successor model makes the new version, the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, sufficiently different from the iPad.

Two other German courts in Mannheim and Munich also dismissed Apple's request to ban the sales of Galaxy Tab 10.1N as well as another device from Samsung's Galaxy line, the Nexus smartphone.

Since last year, the two mobile giants have been engaged in a series of patent war each filing infringement lawsuits against the other. Samsung and Apple are fighting for dominance in the very lucrative smartphone and mobile markets.