At a hearing yesterday in Dusseldorf, a judge said that Samsung Electronics could be banned from selling its Galaxy 10.1 tablet computers in Germany because their design may infringe on Apple’s intellectual property rights for the iPad.
“There are a lot of alternative ways to design a tablet device, as the market amply shows,” the judge said. “We think Apple’s E.U. design rights grant a medium range of protection, if not a broad one.”
Apple is seeking a ban of the Samsung tablets throughout the European Union, but according to the New York Times, it isn’t likely that the ban would expand throughout the European Union.
A ruling in the case is scheduled for Sept. 9.
