[JURIST] The District Court of The Hague [official website] on Wednesday ruled that the designs of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, 8.9, and 7.7 produced by Samsung Electronics do not infringe designs patented by Apple [corporate websites]. In deciding whether Samsung’s tablets were so similar in design to Apple’s iPad to constitute design infringement, the Dutch court relied on a previous opinion from the UK [JURIST report] which found that Samsung’s designs contain noticeably distinguishable features on their front face, including a Samsung logo. Using the same reasoning, the district court found [Reuters report] that the features of each product were not similar enough to constitute infringement.

Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in continuous patent litigation in courts around the world. Two weeks ago, a federal judge denied a Samsung request [JURIST report] to keep sales data for some of its products sealed. Last month, Apple revealed an agreement [JURIST report] to withdraw patent claims against Samsung in California over a new Samsung phone that the South Korea-based company said it was not offering for sale in the US market. In October, a different Dutch court ruled that Samsung did not infringe [JURIST report] an Apple software patent. Also in October, Apple appealed a ruling in Tokyo [JURIST report] that dismissed the company’s claim that Samsung had infringed its patents. At the beginning of October the Federal Circuit reversed an injunction [JURIST report] against Samsung that prevented it from selling its Galaxy Nexus. In August, Apple won a $1.05 billion judgment [JURIST report] in California against Samsung involving other patent infringements.