Samsung redesigns Galaxy Tab after Apple's sales ban

The frame of Samsung's tablet now extends over the device's sides

Samsung has redesigned one of its tablet computers after a court banned sales in Germany in August.

The injunction followed Apple's complaint that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 looked too much like the EU-registered design of its iPad tablet.

The South Korean firm says its revised Galaxy Tab 10.1N will go on sale later this month.

The firm has changed the design of the metal frame and moved the device's speakers.

"Samsung decided to introduce this new version in order to meet consumer demand for our innovative and distinctive products," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

Lawsuits

Experts say Apple may wish to request a new injunction or claim that the refreshed device infringes the existing court order.

The US company could not be reached for comment.

Patent consultant, Florian Mueller, says it is unclear if Samsung has done enough to avoid a fresh ban because it is hard to define how far design rights extend.

"A Community design is infringed only in all of its key characteristics are matched, or that is the overall impression it makes on an informed person," he wrote on his Foss Patents blog.

Apple claimed the original design looked too much like its iPad tablet

"The Galaxy Tab 10.1N still has rounded corners, but Apple doesn't have an exclusive right on just one such feature: what is protected is a set of characteristics and the overall impression it makes."

Apple and Samsung are also embroiled in a series of patent disputes in the United States, Japan, Italy, South Korea and Australia.

Apple has accused Samsung of infringing its touch screen and gesture intellectual rights. Samsung claims Apple failed to license its 3G wireless technologies.

The two tech companies are also meeting in a Paris court today where a judge will consider Samsung's request that the iPhone 4S be blocked from sale in France.