Samsung took a blow at this year’s IFA Consumer Electronics show in Berlin, the largest consumer electronics show in Europe. It was forced to remove its Galaxy Tab 7.7 from its booth after a local judge ruled that it must stop selling the product. The decision was the latest in a series of contentious court cases initiated by Apple, claiming that Samsung’s products have the look and feel of Apple’s iPad and that it violates its patents.
In August, another German judge ordered that Samsung stop selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 until he issues a final ruling, scheduled for this Friday. Similar fights between Apple and Samsung are taking place in South Korea, Japan, the US, and especially Australia, where a federal judge ruled today that Apple has failed to produce sufficient evidence that the release Samsung’s products there is damaging to Apple’s sales.
Observers suggest that the fight is less about Samsung per se than an attempt by Apple to needle Google, whose Android phone is now the iPhone’s biggest competitor. Samsung is also the largest manufacturer of Android equipment. Meanwhile, Samsung is countersuing Apple, claiming that it has infringed on its wireless patents. Apple claims that the Galaxy line imitates the design, look and feel of Apple’s products.
Samsung isn’t the only company to take on Apple. Sony is releasing its own line of products to compete with the iPad. Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer is already firing potshots at Apple, saying that, “We will prove that it’s not who makes the tablet first who counts, but who makes it better.”
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