With its eyes fixed firmly on the Christmas market, Samsung has modified the design of its Galaxy 10.1 tablet in a bid to get around patent infringement accusations made in Germany by iPad maker Apple.
The new design, called the 10.1N, differs only slightly from the 10.1 version, which is currently banned from stores in Germany. The 10.1N now sports a bezel – the metal frame part – that comes slightly over the front side of the device. Also, it appears that its speakers have been brought around to the front.
According to Foss Patents blogger Florian Mueller, Samsung will be hoping that this modification will help it to avoid Apple’s claim that the tablet infringes an intellectual property right related to its design, which led to its ban.
“It seems to me that this design resulted from teamwork between Samsung’s German lawyers and its product design group,” Mueller notes.
He adds: “Samsung has upped the ante for Apple and its lawyers in case they wish to request a new injunction or allege that this constitutes an infringement of the existing one.”
The German online shopping site cyberport.de is already listing the Galaxy 10.1N tablet with a price tag of 549 euros. The original 10.1 version of the Korean company’s tablet was banned from sale by a German court in September
The move by the Korean electronics giant is the latest in a fascinating back-and-forth between Samsung and Apple regarding a series of patent infringement claims in around ten countries across four continents.
Last month Apple won a temporary ban on the sale of the 10.1 tablet in Australia following accusations by the Cupertino company that Samsung had “slavishly” copied various aspects of the iPad’s design.
In another twist just this week, an Australian court said that in March 2012 it would hear Samsung’s claim that Apple had infringed its 3G patents, with the company’s ultimate aim to ban sales of the iPhone 4S there.
In the meantime, we’ll watch and wait to see if Apple’s lawyers respond to the re-launch of the modified 10.1 tablet in Germany. At least, with its visible metal fringe, Samsung lawyers should now have little difficulty in telling it apart from Apple’s iPad.
[Image: all about samsung]
