Apple loses Galaxy battle against Samsung in Australia's highest court

As the global patent battle between technology giants Apple and Samsung continues, the South Korean electronics company won another round when the highest Australian court, the High Court of Australia, yesterday rejected Apple's appeal, allowing Samsung to sell its Galaxy Tab this Christmas.

The three-judge High Court bench rejected Apple's plea to reinstate an appeals court judgment lifting the ban on the Galaxy 10.1 tablets in Australia, ending the Cupertino, California-based company's attempt to keep its iPad's biggest rival out of the shelves in Australia.

On 29 November, an Australian Federal court overturned its earlier ruling of temporarily banning the sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab in the country. (See: Samsung wins rare patent battle against Apple in Australia)

But the Federal court granted Apple a stay on the order until 2 December in order to appeal and get an injunction from the High Court against its ruling.

In October, the Federal Court in Sydney comprising a single-bench judge had granted an interim order against the sale of the Galaxy 10.1, ruling that there may be a case that the South Korean company has breached touch screen technology copyrights (See: Australian court slaps temporary sale ban on Samsung Galaxy Tab).

But the court reversed this decision saying there was "a real and substantial prospect" that the supply of the Galaxy would not infringe an Australian patent relating to the touch screen.