Apple wins first patent dispute against Samsung

Apple has secured a permanent ban on sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Germany.

This decision was made by a court in Düsseldorf. Apple filed the lawsuit, accusing the South Korean manufacturer of patent infringement and copying tablet designs.

The ban will only apply to Germany and does not affect sales of the device in other EU countries.

Samsung announced that it would prepare an appeal against the court's ruling. The patent dispute between the companies has been ongoing since the spring of this year. The companies have exchanged lawsuits in several countries, and in Australia, Samsung was forced to delay sales of the device. And in Germany, Apple successfully secured a preliminary ruling forcing Samsung to seize samples of the tablet.at the IFA 2011 exhibition.

Apple is waging a similar dispute against HTC, but this manufacturerGoogle helped with its patentsin the fight against iPad manufacturers.