Apple claims victory over Samsung in Australia

Apple has won yet another lawsuit against Samsung, banning sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 across Australia. This is yet another feather in the cap of the great Apple patent war.

The Australian federal court ruled that Apple had created an air-tight case against the South Korean technology giant, which it ruled had breached specific touchscreen technology copyrights.

Justice of the court Annabelle Bennett said, “Despite the force of Samsung’s submissions I have found that Apple has established a prima facie case of infringement of claims of both its patents,”

“That is, it has established a probability, not necessarily in a mathematical sense, that it will, on the present evidence, succeed at trial.”

The judge who presided over the case is satisfied with the outcome. “Overall, considering that Apple has established a prima facie case with respect to two separate patents, and that the balance of convenience is marginally in its favour, I am satisfied that it is appropriate to grant the interim injunction,” he said.

James Song, analyst at Daewoo Securities believes that Samsung’s case is floundering: “It’s not good news for Samsung. They will have to look for legal and other countermeasures, such as modifying disputed elements.”

Samsung said that it was “disappointed” with the ruling. In light of the ban, Samsung shares have dropped 1.9%. Samsung had previously stated that if the injunction was granted, it would “scrap the release of the Galaxy 10.1”.

Despite the ruling, Samsung says that it is confident that it will dismiss further patent claims from Apple: “Our wireless standard patents are essential for mobile business,”adding that it would “continue to legally assert our intellectual property rights against those who violate Samsung’s patents and free ride on our technology.”

This ban is one in a series of injunctions against the South Korean tech giant’s latest tablet, including the outlaw of sales of the device in Germany last month.