SAMSUNG PULLS GALAXY TAB 7.7 FROM IFA DUE TO APPLE INJUNCTION

Apple's ongoing patent battle with Samsung has taken yet another twist, now that Cupertino has won an injunction blocking German sales of the recently unveiled Galaxy Tab 7.7. According to FOSS Patents, Samsung pulled its new Android tablet from both the IFA show floor and its German website on Saturday, in compliance with a Friday decision handed down by the same Düsseldorf Regional Court court that banned sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 last month.

The 7.7-inch slate had previously been on display with a sticker that read "Not for sale in Germany," but, as we noticed yesterday, all demo models, posters and other promotional materials have since been removed. Samsung spokesman James Chung told Bloomberg that the new injunction "severely limits consumer choice in Germany," but confirmed that the Korean manufacturer "respects the court's decision," and vowed to do everything it could to defend its intellectual property.

PHOTOS USED IN APPLE'S INJUNCTION AGAINST SAMSUNG TABLET IN GERMANY ALTERED

Apple has been suing Samsung in various courts across the globe. Apple's beef is that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 is too similar to the iPad 2. Recently, Apple filed, and won, an injunction in Germany to keep Samsung from importing and selling the Galaxy in that country.

It has now come to light that the photos used for comparison of the two products, supplied to the court by Apple's lawyers (page 28 of filing), have been altered to make the Galaxy Tab more similar to the iPad than it really is. In the photo above you can see that the tablets look remarkably similar, in reality they are not.

Samsung's tablet measures 10.1" x 6.9" x 0.3" with an aspect ration of 16:10 while the iPad2 measures 9.5" x 7.31" x 0.34" with an aspect ratio of 4:3. You can see by the picture below the size difference between the two. Did Apple purposely alter the photos to make its case or is this a result of an overzealous lawyer in Germany?

APPLE'S BID TO KEEP AMAZON FROM USING 'APP STORE' DENIED

A U.S. judge denied Apple Inc's attempt to quickly stop online retailer Amazon.com Inc from using the "App Store" name, according to a court document.

Apple, the maker of best-selling iPhones and iPad tablets, filed a trademark lawsuit saying that Amazon has improperly used Apple's App Store name to solicit software developers throughout the United States.

Apple also asked a federal judge in Oakland, Calif. for a preliminary injunction to stop Amazon from using the name, which Apple says is trademark protected. However, Amazon argued that the term is generic and therefore not protectable.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton did not agree that the term is purely generic, according to an order released on Wednesday. However Apple has not established "a likelihood of confusion" with Amazon's services to get an injunction, Hamilton wrote. [Reuters]

COURT ORDERS SAMSUNG TO GIVE APPLE ACCESS TO UNRELEASED PRODUCTS

Samsung has been ordered by a federal judge to grant Apple access to a number of unreleased tablets and smartphones as part of an ongoing patent dispute. Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung last month, accusing the Korean consumer electronics giant of infringing on a variety of Apple patents and trademarks. “Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple’s technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products,” Apple said in a court filing.

Last week, a judge gave Samsung 30 days to deliver five of its forthcoming devices, the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and DROID Charge, to Apple so the Cupertino-based company can determine whether or not it wishes to request an early injunction. “Apple has demonstrated good cause for some, limited expedited discovery,” said San Jose federal judge Lucy Koh. “While Apple has not yet filed a motion for preliminary injunction, courts have found that expedited discovery may be justified to allow a plaintiff to determine whether to seek an early injunction.”

Samsung argued that the devices have not yet been released so granting Apple access to them would be inappropriate, but Koh dismissed the arguments, citing the fact that Samsung is already advertising the devices and giving samples to members of the press.

DISH NETWORK AND ECHOSTAR TO PAY TIVO $500 MILLION TO SETTLE LAWSUIT

Dish Network, EchoStar and TiVo have come to a settlement on their long running patent dispute (since 2006) that will see the satellite company pay $500 million to settle all ongoing litigation. We stopped covering the various court judgements in this case last year as each side continued to file one stay and injunction after another, but this time it's finally over. The most recent court judgement came April 20th in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and found EchoStar in contempt of an earlier injunction despite modifications to its DVR software.

The companies have licensed certain patents to each other, including the infamous Time Warp patent that was at the heart of the dispute. Details are in the press release after the break, but TiVo's scored an upfront $300 million cash payment (Dish Network is also reporting today it added 58,000 subscribers and had a net income of $549 million last quarter, we guess there was some loose change rolling around after its Blockbuster and DBSD purchases), with the remaining $200 million to be paid out between 2012 and 2017.