Samsung and Apple have been busy for quite some time now filing suites against each other and blaming the other of copying their products and infringing patents. In a recent development reported by dotTech, a Dutch court had found Apple guilty of infringing one of the four patents Samsung accused Apple to have infringed. Now it is Samsung’s turn to feel the heat.

In a US court, Apple complained that Samsung had ‘blatantly copied’ the look of their iPad on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and infringed on Apple’s design patent. Apple requested an injunction against Galaxy Tab 10.1 while this dispute is resolved in court. The judge presiding over the case was unpersuaded by Samsung’s argument(s) and has now granted Apple that injunction. As of now (yesterday, actually) Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales have been banned in the United States while this court case is pending.

It is important to note the phrase “while this court case is pending”. What this means is Samsung has not yet been found guilty of copying the iPad and infringing on Apple’s patent; a judge has just stopped sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 while Samsung is on trial. (Android/Samsung fans, don’t worry — Samsung also has some cases pending with Samsung claiming Apple to have broken Samsung’s patent rights.) When the trial concludes, Samsung can be found innocent or guilty. Apple, of course, will hope for the guilty verdict not only because they want to beat back the competition but also because if Apple looses this legal battle to Samsung, it will have to pay $2.6 million to Samsung as compensation for the ban imposed on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

In any case, if you were just looking forward to buying a Samsung Galaxy Tab, you need not worry. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 II is not affected by this ban — last year’s model is the one banned.

This is not just the first, second, or third legal battle between the two companies. Both of them have been going mad filing infringement suites against each other in different courts all over the world. A case filed against Samsung by Apple in the same regard, about Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1N (which Samsung had to release after Galaxy Tab 10.1 was banned by German courts), was rejected by a German court in December 2011.

Funny thing is Apple has not left the battle to Samsung alone. It has been working hard to sue all the companies it could which were using the Google Android operating system. We will have to wait, maybe indefinitely, to see who comes out the victor — if there is one. Armistice, anyone?

[via BBC News]