Apple wins German case against Samsung's tablet computer

Dusseldorf - Apple won Friday its court case against Samsung, securing a long-term injunction against the sale in Germany of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 made by the South Korean electronics firm.

The two companies are at odds around the world over claims that the Tab imitates the technology or the design of US-based Apple's iconic iPad 2, a best-selling slate-style battery-powered computer.

In Germany, Apple contended the Tab 10.1 copied the "community design" of the iPad. Community design is a European Union legal right which protects the look and feel of products from imitation. Apple registered the design features in the EU in 2004.

Patents on technology inside the devices were not at stake in the case, which has hampered Samsung's efforts to catch up with Apple. The Galaxy range uses Google's Android operating system.

The state court in Dusseldorf confirmed an earlier temporary injunction against sale of the largest of the Tab range in Europe's biggest economy, ruling that the new Tab looked too similar to the registered Apple design.

The court also obliged Samsung to take another new model, the smaller Galaxy Tab 7.7, off the market in Germany. On Saturday, Samsung had to remove those devices from its pavilion at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.//DPA