Samsung has been denied the chance to sell its newest tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, in Australia until a patent dispute with Apple, maker of the iPad 2, is settled following a trial.

This means that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 may never be sold in Australia, according to Bloomberg. Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett made the decision Wednesday, granting Apple's request for injunction of the sale of Samsung's tablet.

The ruling means Samsung probably will not market the product in Australia, something that its lawyer Neil Young had told Bennett earlier this month in Sydney. Since an injunction will likely prevent the sale of the tablet through the holiday and Christmas season, Samsung may decide its new tablet will be dead by the time it can be marketed.

Apple asserts that the Samsung tablet infringes on at least three of its patents. Its legal action against Samsung had already pushed back release of the tablet for more than two months in Australia.

The two companies are engaged in a flurry of legal battles, at least 20, spanning four continents. They stretch everywhere from the United States to South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands. The Australian litigation only adds to the growing legal battle over smartphone and tablet technologies.

The dispute goes back to April, when Apple sued Samsung in the United States, saying it slavishly copied the designs of iPhones and iPads with the Galaxy tablet and Nexus Prime phone. Samsung countersued Apple in mid-September in Australia, where the South Korean company is currently prohibited from selling the tablet.

Both companies have gone back and forth since April over each other's products. And this certainly does not figure to be the last dispute.

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