Australian court blocks Samsung tablet

Apple has won an important legal battle in a Sydney court to block rival Samsung Electronics from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia ahead of the crucial Christmas shopping season, the FT reports. In a blow to Samsung, Justice Annabelle Bennett in the Federal Court on Thursday granted a temporary injunction sought by Apple, maker of the iPad, to delay the launch of its rival’s product in Australia. Apple claims that Samsung’s tablet, one of the iPad’s biggest rivals, infringes its technology and design patents. Apple also is seeking a sales ban on Samsung’s mobile devices in the US, which is one of Samsung’s biggest markets. A court hearing is slated for later on Thursday in California. Samsung and Apple are locked in about 20 legal disputes over patents in nine countries including the US, South Korea, Japan and the UK. Last month, a German court upheld a complaint by Apple that its South Korean rival copied the design of its iPad, and banned the sale of Samsung’s newest Galaxy Tab tablet computer in Europe’s largest market.