Apple wins ruling for German Samsung Galaxy tablet 10.1 ban

Apple Inc., the world’s most valuable technology company, won backing from a German court for a ban on sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet computer in the country.

A Dusseldorf court today upheld the temporary sales ban it issued Aug. 9, rejecting Samsung’s bid to overturn it. The judges won’t ban sales in other European Union countries as Apple had sought, Presiding Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said when delivering the verdict.

Apple, the maker of the iPad, won a second injunction at the same court last week, forcing Samsung to pull the new Galaxy Tab 7.7 out of the IFA consumer-electronics show in Berlin. The legal battle between Cupertino, California-based Apple and its closest rival in tablet computers is intensifying as an increasing number of consumers use devices such as tablets and smartphones to surf the Web, play games and download music.

“The court is of the opinion that Apple’s minimalistic design isn’t the only technical solution to make a tablet computer, other designs are possible,” Brueckner-Hofmann said. “For the informed customer there remains the predominant overall impression that the device looks” like the design Apple has protected in Europe.