A more pertinent question would be why does a court in Germany have the right to interfere with Irish trade?

I’m guessing that the Netherlands is excluded as Apple and Samsung are having a very similar case heard in the Dutch courts at the moment.
From the sound of that article, Samsung are fighting hard to get Apple’s case thrown out on the twin arguments that there exists prior art, and that some of the patents are so broad as to be practically unenforceable.

Sounds like the case in the Dutch courts is going to be hard-fought, which makes it more of a puzzle why Samsung weren’t there to fight the same case in Dusseldorf, particularly as it had such significant EU-wide implications.

anyone know why holland get to sell the samsung? i wont get any sleep tonight thinking about it.

Because the European Union is a common market, perhaps?

Common Market? The Netherlands are part of the EU….

Why Germany?

…because Germany is the easiest one to get this rival stopped.
From Techradar.com: Fairly or unfairly, German courts have a reputation for liking intellectual property owners a lot more than they like intellectual property infringers. If Apple was aware of that, then it might try something like suing Samsung in Germany to get an EU-wide ban with the minimum of fuss. – http://tinyurl.com/3z7muys
…And Apple now are going after a second – possibly a third, to stop another rival trying to oppose them.

Once again we see the thugs running Apple bullying out any opposition.
I wouldn’t buy an Apple product to save my life. They are a disgusting company.

Can anyone say +1 …….

Likewise… I know this might be a dangerous thing to say but I’d prefer if we had such a monoculture with Google, not Apple. They just seem, well, a bit evil with all their antics of late. But hey, if we can prevent Apple spoling the party and using the patent laws for distorting competition, we might be able to keep up this rapid innovation a bit longer.

Worrying trend? Surely lawyers would never let intellectual property rights go out of fashion! This is only making the news because people are extremely familiar with these brands, that’s all.

@Brian, so you would prefer that a company that has bullied, bought or stolen from it’s competition from day one, has several anti-trust, privacy and patent lawsuits against it, and has more information about you than your parents and wife/partner combined had a monopoly on the market?

Don’t get me wrong, neither company should have a monopoly, and Apple certainly has some undesirable behaviour of late. But to suggest that Google is some kind of innocent Golden Boy is misguided. People often talk of the Apple “Distortion Field”, but Google have managed to do an incredible job of hiding their less desirable traits.

I thought the same thing myself and if I ever buy a tablet it won’t be an Ipad.

No, sorry, samsung should be held responsible for there actions, they’ve blatantly copied apples products. It’s actually amazing how blatant it is!

@Gordon: How have they copied Apples products? The OS looks totally different, all they share are their open-source based tools (webkit, *nix etc) and a touch interface. As for physical appearance, you do realise Apple didn’t invent the tablet PC right?

By that logic only one company has the right to produce flat screen televisions or four wheeled cars.

It appears Gordan is making a typical Apple Fan uninformed comment… As with most things apple theyve ripped the technology from elsewhere rehashed it into a cleaner looking ‘sexy interface’ and sell it as their own.

The non support of Flash is enough to make me look elsewhere for a Tablet, coupled with the fact that they ignore standardised accepted interfaces usb as an example.

James Comerford – “As with most things apple theyve ripped the technology from elsewhere rehashed it into a cleaner looking ‘sexy interface’ and sell it as their own.”

You’ve actually summed up pretty much every consumer-focused industry and corporation in existence, not just Apple.

That said I find the whole arena of patent lawsuits depressing. I like Apple but going after every black tablet out there just smacks of them pushing their weight around unfairly. It’s even more absurd when you consider the fact that Samsung are huge component suppliers to Apple, and actually provide components for the iPad.

Judging by Gordon Bernard’s comment, he actually knows NOTHING about Samsungs actual product.
Do your research Gordon before making silly rushed commends.

Have you seen the original android concepts? They were rip offs of a blackberry style OS and were designed for similar devices. After the iphone came out it suddenly underwent a transformation and changed focus to be a touch screen based OS with a huge focus on apps. To say one copied the other at this stage is just ridiculous. They have blatantly raped each others ideas since day 1. But one thing is guaranteed, Apple revolutionized both the smartphone and tablet markets and neither would be where they are now otherwise.

I don’t know what it is about software but tings like that never appear in lawsuits from some reason. Like Windows 7 had some many OSX features it was staggering yet Apple didn’t do anything about it. .Besides that though, OSX has a notifications bar for updates, over the air updates and multiple ways to share images and has had them for some time.Would you then say that these features were stolen by Android? At the end of the day, it is not ideal that a competitive product has been banned from sale but Apple have the right to protect their products which are legally protected by international patents.

What features did Apple rob from the Android interface?

@Nigel: The new notifications in iOS5

If you never bought products from companies that sued other companies for copying or patent infringement you’d have a very empty house.

@Christopher

Yeah but they’re really taking the piss here, Samsung and Google are getting bullied by Apple and Microsoft using the patent laws. Thought the intended use for these laws was to protect intellectual property and encourage innovation, not stifle both innovation and competition.

From Techradar: If the courts ultimately decide that Apple was wrong and that Samsung hasn’t infringed anything, Apple will be liable for damages – but by then the damage will be done.

As Reuters reports, Europe is a great place for firms to take on Apple’s iPad due to the relatively small presence of Apple retail outlets (52 in Europe compared to 258 in the US) – although Apple’s sheer size and deals with suppliers gives it economies of scale that most rivals can only dream of. Competing against that is tough enough, but competing when you’re not allowed to sell any kit is, of course, impossible.

http://tinyurl.com/3z7muys

O’ wait… they are suing to stop other rivals getting out there.
…Unlike the other cases where software/hardware is actually being used.

If you can’t see a difference, don’ tpost.

Are you finished with that pint?Jases im parched.

Totally WRONG – they are already setting out to stop a second, possibly a third.
Dear god – will some folk bother to learn some actual facts instead of going off half cocked!
Not only that but they are possibly going after a third.

…And As for price fixing by Apple which is now being investigated… http://tinyurl.com/3gcxvxf

Going after Google too: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/11/us-apple-idUSTRE77A6IN20110811

So much for just a once thing!

Apple – a bunch of thugs!