Apple has scored a critical victory against smartphone rival Samsung having successfully obtained a preliminary injunction against the sale of Samsung Galaxy smartphones throughout much of the EU.
The Samsung Galaxy S, the Galaxy S II, and the Ace are affected by the injunction which bans the sale of devices by the firm's Dutch subsidiaries into the territories of the UK, France, Germany and a handful of other nations including Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland.
While Samsung appeared to be in denial that the ban affected territories outside of the Netherlands but patent analyst Florian Mueller said: "It is my understanding that Samsung's European logistics use the Netherlands as the primary hub."
"If Samsung's Korean parent company wants to exercise its freedom to ship into other European countries despite this injunction, it will have to reorganize its logistics chain in Europe accordingly," he added.
Samsung told the BBC that the firm would "take all possible measures" regarding the injunction to ensure that the smartphones remained available.
The action wasn't a complete loss for Samsung with the Dutch court throwing out all but one of the patents including 'slide to unlock' which Samsung successfully argued was in use prior to Apple's 'invention'.
Vitally, the Dutch court left the door open to a suitable modification allowing the smartphones to go back on sale.
The Samsung Galaxy smartphones are among the most popular high-end Android handsets on the British market.
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