It’s difficult to predict the outcome of the dispute at this stage, but we can expect Samsung to respond quickly to the allegations against its product. However, there will clearly be a short-term impact on Samsung’s tablet sales, given that the German ruling is EU wide, except for the Netherlands. A separate ruling also temporarily restricts sales in Australia.

It’s true that companies need to protect their investments in intellectual property and there could yet be grounds for enforcing software changes or license fees on tablet manufacturers that have infringed Apple’s patents. However, any ruling against Samsung on the grounds of similarity in hardware design and appearance between the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the iPad – which is another of Apple’s complaints – would work against the best interests of both the industry and consumers.