Samsung Electronics Co is set to resume selling its Galaxy tablet computer in Australia as early as Friday, after the South Korean technology firm won a rare legal victory in a long-running global patent war with Apple Inc. An Australian federal court unanimously decided to lift a preliminary injunction, imposed by a lower court, on sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 - but granted Apple a stay on lifting the sales ban until Friday afternoon.
"It's hard to expect the ruling to have a major positive impact on Samsung's tablet business or legal cases in other countries as Apple could appeal and sales won't be restored anytime soon," said Song Myung-sub, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities in Seoul. Lawyers for Apple declined to comment after the ruling, but getting a delay in lifting the temporary sales ban could give time for an appeal to be launched. The ruling is, however, a timely boost for Samsung ahead of the busy pre-Christmas shopping season.