Apple successfully blocks Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch in Australia, but demands more

The frustrating legal battle between Apple and Samsung reached an important milestone this week, as the Federal Australian court granted Apple a temporary injunction to forbid sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country.

“The balance of convenience was almost even … there were several factors that favored Apple,” said Judge Bennett as reported on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Apple, however, was looking to extend its reach against Samsung even further this week. Unhappy with the new injunction, the Cupertino company earlier this Friday demanded “advanced copies of any tablet that Samsung may launch in Australia” in order to preliminarily scan for any patent violations. Samsung was quick to retort the idea as unfair and Judge Bennett herself swiftly dismissed the proposal.

Still, Bennett ended the court day with a ban on “any version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 until the completion of proceedings,” the source says. The full case hearing is not expected to begin until sometime 2012.

Samsung had stated weeks earlier that it may consider abandoning the Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch in Australia altogether if the injunction would last through the Holiday shopping season.

The Australian ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes months after the German ban on the same device.

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