Apple gets sales ban on some Samsung Galaxy products in the Netherlands

A Dutch court has banned sales of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy products that infringe on an Apple patent describing a way to scroll through a photo gallery using a touchscreen. The ban only applies to Galaxy products that run Android 2.2.1 and higher that don't use Samsung's proprietary photo gallery software, the Court of The Hague ruled on Nov 28.

Apple patented a way to scroll past the edge of a zoomed-in photo and see a glimpse of the next in a series of images, after which the initial photo bounces back onto the screen, a technique that Samsung has used in its Galaxy products. Samsung's proprietary photo gallery software replaces that bounce-back feature with a "blue flash" that illuminates the edge of the image. Samsung already lost a case over the same patent after preliminary proceedings in the Netherlands last year, leading to a sales ban on the then-infringing Galaxy S, SII and Ace. After the verdict, Samsung adjusted its photo gallery software as a work around, and said it stopped delivering infringing products to clients as of the end of August 2011. During the plea hearing in September, Samsung said that, since the last verdict, it uses its own technology in all its products in the Netherlands. Samsung, however failed to provide the court with evidence of the change, annoying the panel of judges.