Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. claimed the latest victory in its global legal battle against rival Apple Inc. on Tuesday. A Dutch court rejected Apple's appeal to stop the Korean company from selling its popular tablet computer in the Netherlands and allowing its Dutch subsidiaries to distribute it throughout the European Union.

Apple had appealed against a decision by a court of first instance, which ruled in favor of Samsung saying it wasn't copying the U.S. company's designs with its Galaxy Tab 10.1 and earlier Galaxy 10.1v tablets.

The ruling by the higher court in The Hague allows Samsung to keep selling the devices in the country and crucially to distribute them to other markets in the European Union from the Netherlands, an important entry point to the continent.

The legal battle between Samsung and Apple spans dozens of cases world-wide and has escalated as the companies vie for supremacy in mobile computing through smartphone and tablet sales. Apple filed the first lawsuit in April, accusing Samsung of design and trademark infringements. Samsung expanded the fight by focusing its suits on technology patents.

The Dutch higher court found that the Galaxy Tab could only be compared to the design registered in 2004 and not to Apple's iPad that was released on the market in 2010. When comparing the registered design to the Galaxy Tab, the summary trial judge found them to be significantly distinct.

The decision follows a court ruling in Mannheim, Germany, which last week decided that Apple hadn't violated one of Samsung's technical patents. Samsung said it will review the details of that ruling before deciding whether it will appeal to a higher court in Germany.

Apple said that it was "no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we've said many times before, we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas." However, a spokesman declined to comment specifically on the latest ruling. Samsung didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

By: DocMemory
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