Apple loses Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales ban appeal in the Netherlands

Apple has lost another attempt to ban Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 device in the Netherlands after an appeals court in the country upheld a decision from August 2011 in favour of the South Korean firm.

Apple was challenging a decision that ruled the Galaxy Tab 10.1 did not infringe on any design patents relating to the firm's own iPad devices, but the Gerechthof 's-Gravenhage court in The Hague dismissed the appeal.

Samsung welcomed the ruling and reiterated its intention to continue in its legal fight with Apple.

"This ruling again demonstrates that Apple's products simply do not warrant the intellectual property protections that it believes," the firm said.

"Samsung will continue to take all appropriate measures, including legal action, to ensure continued consumer access to our innovative products."

V3 contacted Apple for comment but had received no reply at the time of publication.

Patent analyst Florian Mueller explained the court's decision was based on the fact that while Apple's design patents for the iPad are not so broad as to be invalid, they are too broad to be considered unique, as evidenced by older design examples of similar devices.

"The existence of at least two pieces of prior art for each of the asserted key design elements led the Dutch appeals court to determine that the valid scope of Apple's asserted design-related right is narrow," he said in a blog post.

"Based on that narrowed scope, the asserted right was not deemed infringed."

Samsung submitted several examples of prior art it believes proves Apple's design of the iPad is not unique, with the court taking into account the design of the HP Compaq TC1000 and the Knight Ridder tablet.

The Korean firm has previously claimed that a tablet design used in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey was proof of prior art for an iPad-related design patent in a similar legal battle in the US.

The decision comes a few days after Samsung lost a patent case against Apple in Germany over the use of 3G patents in its iPhone devices, as the two firms continue their legal battle in courts across the world.