A while back we told you about independent Australian retailers refusing to honor the ruling from Apple’s civil case against Samsung. A small number of independent shops and websites skirted the sales ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 by importing them directly from China without buying them from Samsung first. Well it looks like Apple’s legal reach (not to mention gall) knows no bounds: the company has halted sales at all but one of the “rogue” retailers, in some cases using threatening letters to convince them of their position.
The Australian news site was only able to find one website that’s still selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 down under, Dmavo.com.au. The sales injunction bans Samsung from selling its tablets to retailers and directly to consumers, but retailers are free to find alternates sources of inventory, in this case, electronics shops in China and Taiwan. The rest of the independent stores that were selling the tablets have all decided to stop, likely to keep from risking a civil suit from Apple’s Australian arm.
Samsung is currently appealing the sales ban, but since the preliminary and primary injunctions made it through, that seems unlikely. Apple previously refused a settlement of undisclosed terms in the case, and after the details of the late Steve Jobs’ vitriolic rants against Android, it’s unlikely that they ever will. Samsung has retaliated by seeking a ban on iPhone 4S sales, and that particular case goes before a judge today.
