Apple won a major victory in its “thermonuclear war” with Android in Australia, where the civil court upheld a sales injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab based on Apple’s practical and design patents. But the courts are no obstacle for the determined, and a collection of crafty online retailers are still selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 down under. Like Prohibition smugglers they get their stock from outside the continent and sell the tablets as import items, exploiting a loophole in Australian law.

Naturally Apple isn’t happy. The American company has forwarded copies of the injunction to eTail Solutions and and MobiCity, two of the online shops currently selling the contraband tablets. Other retailers currently offering the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to underserved Aussies include import specialist Expansys, Techrific, dMavo and eBay, though not all of these have been contacted by Apple. According to an eTail Solutions manager, to stop the sales Apple would have to also win an injunction against Samsung where the tablets are being imported from, in this case, Hong Kong.

Retailers are still prohibited from purchasing the tablets directly from Samsung, but Samsung is trying to overrule the courts’ ruling with an appeal. If that fails there isn’t a whole lot Samsung can do, since Apple has flat-out denied any sort of appeal. Similar cases between Apple and Samsung are being waged all over the world, with troubling developments here in the United States as the circuit judge in charge of the case declared Samsung in violation of some of Apple’s technical patents.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Of course apple is mad, they want a monopoly on tablets and smartphones. Is this the same company that said “good artists copy, great artists steal”? Hypocrits…

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