Samsung Electronics will not showcase the Galaxy Tab 7.7, its latest tablet computer, at one of the largest electronics shows after Apple won a second injunction blocking sales of the computer in Germany.
Samsung withdrew the new version of the Galaxy from the consumer electronics show, known as IFA, in Berlin after a court in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Friday granted Apple’s request to prohibit sales and marketing of the product, James Chung, a spokesman for Samsung of Seoul, South Korea, said on Sunday.
Mr. Chung said he could not confirm whether Samsung, Apple’s closest rival in tablet computers, had received the court order. A spokesman for Apple in Seoul said he could not immediately comment on the ruling.
“Samsung respects the court’s decision,” Mr. Chung said. The company believes the ruling “severely limits consumer choice in Germany,” he said. He said Samsung would pursue all available options, including legal action, to defend its intellectual property rights.
Samsung and Apple, maker of the iPad, are involved in legal disputes across three continents, as Apple — also one of the biggest customers for Samsung’s chips and displays — contends the Galaxy devices copied its iPhone and iPad. Last month, the Düsseldorf Regional Court granted Apple a temporary sales ban on the earlier Galaxy Tab 10.1 model in 26 of the 27 European Union member countries.
The August ruling, scaled back to only Germany on jurisdictional grounds, could have cost Samsung sales of as many as half a million units this year, Strategy Analytics estimated.
Samsung had planned to show the Galaxy Tab 7.7 with other mobile devices at this year’s IFA conference, which continues through Wednesday and has become a battleground for companies seeking to lure European consumers to alternatives to the iPhone and the iPad.
Samsung, which does not disclose how many tablets it has sold, aims to increase those sales more than fivefold this year from 2010, when the original Galaxy Tab running Google Inc.’s Android software went on sale.
Samsung had about a 16 percent share in the tablet market in the first quarter, trailing the iPad’s 69 percent, Strategy Analytics said.
Legal disputes between the companies began after Apple charged Samsung with “slavishly” copying its products in a lawsuit filed in April in the United States. Samsung countersued in California, Germany, Seoul and Tokyo.
A court ruling in the Netherlands on Aug. 25 ordered Samsung to halt some sales of its smartphones after Oct. 13.
In Australia, Samsung agreed to delay the introduction of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 until the end of September, the second delay in a month.
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