Apple Versus Samsung: Win Some, Lose Some

Apple’s celebration of a recent German court ruling upholding a sales ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablets was cut short when another German court handed it a defeat to go along with its victory.

The Munich I Regional Court on Wednesday evening denied Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus, Samsung’s flagship Android smartphone, and its Galaxy Tab 10.1N, a newer version of the tablet intended to further differentiate it from Apple’s iPad, keeping it immune from litigation.

That differentiation didn’t much come into play in this ruling, though.

At issue in this case was a touchscreen-related patent that Munich Regional Court Judge Andreas Mueller evidently felt wouldn’t stand up. Said Mueller, “Samsung has shown that it is more likely than not that the patent will be revoked because of a technology that was already on the market before the intellectual property had been filed for protection.”

So, two patent spats resolved — for the time being. But the broader intellectual property battle between Apple and Samsung continues to rage on in various courts around the world.