Samsung wins reprieve in tablet battle

South Korean electronics giant Samsung Wednesday won its appeal against a temporary ban on sales of its tablet device in Australia, the latest development in its battle against Apple. The Federal Court of Australia in Sydney lifted the ban on the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 Tab ahead of a final hearing, with the US giant claiming the device copies its iPad computer, Dow Jones Newswires said. But Apple won a stay, meaning that Samsung will not be able to sell the Galaxy in Australia until at least Friday. "I think that if you wish to extend that stay you will have to do that in the High Court," Justice Lindsay Graeme Foster told Apple after handing down the judgment. The Federal Court granted an interim order against the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 in October, ruling that Apple had established a prima facie case the South Korean company had breached touchscreen technology copyrights. The Sydney courtroom battle is part of a wider global war in which two of the world's biggest technology companies are vying for supremacy in the US$100 billion market for tablet computers and smartphones. Apple won a similar ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany in October related to copyright breaches, prompting Samsung Electronics to say it had modified the design of its newest tablet in an attempt to bypass the sales ban. The two companies are also engaged in an ongoing battle over smartphone and tablet technology in the United States, Japan and South Korea.