[JURIST] A federal judge on Tuesday granted a request by Apple to issue an injunction against Samsung Electronics [corporate websites] blocking the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet computer while the patent infringement case is reviewed. Judge Lucy Koh for the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] stated that Apple has a strong case on merits against Samsung and is most likely to prevail. Apple had alleged that Samsung illegally copied the design of its iPad and had requested a preliminary injunction. Koh agreed with Apple by stating that although competition by itself is not prohibited, unfair competition is not allowed. With the preliminary injunction, the judge ordered Apple to post a $2.6 million bond for the possibility that it does not prevail and the injunction is deemed to be wrongly issued. Tuesday’s decision came after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) [official website] last Tuesday rejected [Bloomberg report; CAFC notice] Samsung’s appeal of the decision [opinion, PDF] that remanded the case to the district court giving Apple another opportunity to ban Samsung’s Galaxy products in the states.

Earlier this month, Koh had rejected [JURIST report] a request by Apple for a preliminary injunction against four Samsung products including the Galaxy Tab 10.1. She had reasoned that the district court does not have jurisdiction over the case until the CAFC decides on Samsung’s appeal. In May, the CAFC partially reversed [JURIST report] the district court’s refusal to grant a temporary injunction for Apple against Samsung. Apple’s request for a temporary injunction was denied [JURIST report] by the district court in December. Apple filed a suit [JURIST report] against Samsung in April of last year alleging that Samsung committed ten patent infringements, two trademark violations and two trade dress violations by copying iPhone and iPad technology in making its “Galaxy” products. Apple and Samsung are in constant dispute over patent infringement not only in the states. Last week, the District Court of The Hague ruled [judgment, in Dutch; JURIST report] in favor of Samsung against Apple by holding the company liable for infringing upon one of the Korean company’s four patents, a 3G patent [EP1188269, text].