Take that, Apple. Dutch court cool with Samsung Tab design

At least in the Netherlands, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1

 is safe--from a design standpoint--from Apple's lawyers.

(Credit: Samsung)

Apple suffered another legal setback after a Dutch court sided with Samsung Electronics, ruling that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 does not infringe upon the iPad's design. 

A court in The Hague, Netherlands, dismissed an appeal by Apple, its latest attempt to get Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from the country, according to legal blog Foss Patents. A lower court in The Hague had initially dismissed a similar request by Apple in August.

The ruling comes a week before a similar decision is expected in a German court over a ban that was initially placed on the Galaxy Tab, said Florian Mueller, who runs Foss Patents. He said the decision could remove the ban, dealing Apple yet another legal defeat.

Apple and Samsung representatives weren't immediately available to comment to CNET.

This just the latest legal development in the ongoing battle between Apple and Androidmanufacturers. Apple has gone after a myriad of Android partners in part to halt the momentum of Google's mobile platform, but also to eventually extract a licensing fee. But the effort has been a costly one, with Apple rumored to have spent $100 million on its litigation against HTC alone.

So far, Apple hasn't come up with much of a concrete victory. Its only decisive win was a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that found one out of 10 patents was infringed by HTC. But HTC has several months to create a technical workaround to the patent, rendering the victory fairly meaningless.

Google, meanwhile, is attempting to load up on patents with its planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility. Presumably, those patents would benefit all Android partners.

Apple and Android companies such as HTC and Samsung are attempting to get a firm ruling banning its products from a major country, which would force the two sides to start negotiating a cross-licensing agreement. But until such a decision arrives, both sides will continue to up the ante and file one lawsuit after another in courts around the world.