APPLE HAS WON a preliminary injunction in a Netherlands court banning the sale of some Samsung Galaxy smartphones in countries including Ireland.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the injunction means Samsung cannot sell three different smartphones – the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace – in a number of countries, which the BBC listed as including Ireland.
The injunction will kick in in seven weeks’ time, but Samsung is said to be optimistic that some of the patents it allegedly infringes can be circumvented in the meantime, meaning there will be no disruption in sales.
The injunction takes effect on October 13, and will stop Samsung’s Dutch operations – its main logistical hub for the EU – from exporting the handsets to Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, France, Finland, Sweden and Liechtenstein.
Apple successfully claimed that the three listed smartphones infringe one of its patents relating to how photo galleries are displayed and navigated through on its devices.
It failed in other arguments, however, that the South Korean company had stolen some of its designs and infringed on other patents.
Samsung welcomed the ruling, despite its partial loss, declaring that the Dutch court had affirmed how unique and innovative its products were.
InformationWeek.com reported that even if Samsung is able to issue a software update that circumvents the court’s ban, the injunction could still have an impact for other phones and tablets operating the Android operating system.
Today’s injunction marks the latest in a lengthy stream of patent disputes between the two companies.
Two weeks ago Apple won an injunction in a German court blocking the distribution of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab devices in other EU countries, but that injunction was rescinded the following day when concerns were raised about how a German court could allow an injunction affecting the rest of the EU.
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