Apple's having some good luck against Samsung in Germany, but that's apparently not setting a precedent for the rest of Europe. The Court of the Hague, in the Netherlands, has denied an appeal from Apple to place an injunction on Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales on grounds of design patent infringement. The Dutch ruling took into account two out of six potential pieces of prior art, though they may take more into consideration later on. Apple has already been shot down once for this case in the Dutch lower courts, and having the appeal denied as well means this case is pretty cut and dry.
It seems like globally, Apple is going to have a hard time enforcing these design patents, despite seeing varied success in a few regions. Even Australia, which had placed a ban on some Samsung products, eventually reversed its decision. Unless Apple manages to get consistent ruling internationally, it will be hard to avoid imports into the few countries that have a local sales ban on devices that look like the iPhone or iPad.
While I certainly appreciate Apple's classy design, it seems a little extreme for a company whose founder openly borrowed good ideas and made them better. You can find the full Dutch court ruling, ripe for Google Translating, over here.
Source: FOSS Patents
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