Samsung Defeats Apple-Sought Ban in Australia

Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, won a battle in its global patent war with Apple as an Australian appeals court overturned a ban on the sale of its tablet rivaling the iPad.

Samsung can begin sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country starting Dec. 2, a federal appeals judge ruled. A three-member appeal panel unanimously said that a lower-court judge earlier made a mistake in granting Apple’s request for a ban. Apple must file an emergency appeal against this verdict in the Canberra-based High Court, the nation’s apex legal body, to extend the ban. The Australian dispute is part of a battle between the companies on at least four continents that began in April, when Apple sued Samsung in the U.S. and accused it of “slavishly” copying the designs of iPhones and iPads.