Apple Wins Again, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Sales Banned in Germany

Apple scored a yet another victory in its multi-country patent infringement battle against Samsung Electronics after a German court issued a preliminary injunction barring Samsung from selling Galaxy Tab 7.7 in that country.

Samsung respects the court's decision, Bloomberg reported, citing Samsung spokesman James Chung, adding that the company believes it severely limits consumer choice in Germany.

The injunction has forced the Korean technology giant to pull the tablet from the IFA Electronics show, Europe's biggest consumer electronics fair that is currently being held in Berlin.

Apple alleged that Samsung has copied its products and intends to protect its intellectual property. The latest development follows an earlier ban on German sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in late August until its final ruling on Sept. 9.

Samsung and Apple have been locked in acrimonious battle over smartphones and tablet patents since April as Apple seeks to rein in the growth of Google's Android phones by taking direct aim at the Samsung whose Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S2 devices compete with Apple's iPad 2 and iPhone 4, respectively.

In July, Apple filed a complaint against Samsung with the International Trade Commission in the United States over IP violations in both the tablet and smartphone markets. Apple has also filed suits against Samsung in Japan, South Korea and the U.S.

If Apple continues to win key patent battles, Samsung may be forced to license key technologies from Apple that could increase the cost of Android products and hurt profit margins.

The ruling also has far-reaching implications for other Android partners, including Motorola and HTC, which is said to be paying at least $40 in royalties and licenses per Android smartphone sold.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the latest addition to Samsung's tablet PC range with 3MP camera and 1.4 GHz dual-core chip running on Android Honeycomb. Further, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the first tablet that incorporates Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus display technology.

The Super AMOLED Plus display allows for a wider range of colors with greater separation between light and dark, making images incredibly vivid, Samsung said in a statement.

The tablet, which weighs less than a pound, comes with 16GB, 32 GB and 64GB models.

Following is the comparison between Samsung Galaxy Tab with iPad 2: