Samsung wins Galaxy Tab appeal against Apple in Australia patent dispute

The Samsung Galaxy Tab will go back on sale in Australia after a court lifted a temporary injunction placed on the product at Apple's insistence.

Apple has, until now, largely had the better of its main rivals, Samsung and HTC, in various patent disputes in mobile phone and tablet markets around the world.

In October, the US International Trade Commission opened the door to a future ban on HTC devices after finding the Taiwanese firm guilty of infringing Apple patents.

Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 remains banned temporarily in Germany, as does the Galaxy S series in the Netherlands.

The temporary sales ban of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia will be lifted on Friday afternoon, although Apple may soon start an appeal to have the ban upheld.

"Apple could appeal the decision by the courts to lift the injunction but I think it will be unlikely that Apple will be able to uphold the ban," patents analyst Florian Mueller told V3.

"The key question is the long-term one of what the outcome of this litigation will be. The preliminary injunction was just the court's fast track decision that takes place while the court is making its slow track decisions, and this slow track decision process is set to continue."

Mueller explained that the preliminary injunction on the Galaxy Tab had benefitted Apple because it could portray Samsung as an infringer of intellectual property.

"But the winner of the war will not depend on a preliminary injunction," he said. "The appeals court found the injunction to be wrong but it does not seem to doubt all aspects of the Apple case. It just is more sympathetic to Samsung's interest in keeping itself in the market."