Apple got an advantage this week as it won an injunction against Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics. A German court has barred Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 touchscreen tablets in the European Union. Released earlier this summer, Galaxy Tab 10.1 touchscreen tablets are touted to be Apple’s (News - Alert) strong competition in the market.

Apple filed infringement suite against Samsung in Germany stating Samsung copied some of the intellectual properties unique of iPad. Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 runs on Android (News - Alert) operating system, which has been rated as the most popular smartphone operating system in the market.

The German court ruling does not apply to the Netherlands, so Samsung can sell the products there. Following this order, Apple filed a separate patent infringement case in the Netherlands, which is scheduled for hearing on Wednesday.

Earlier Apple filed lawsuits against Samsung in California, which claims infringement of seven patents related to Galaxy devices' mechanism of interpreting user gestures, including selecting, scrolling, pinching and zooming.  Additionally, Apple  accused Samsung of copying three design patents, including the flat black face of the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPad. The suit also covers the Epic 4G and the Nexus S products from Samsung.

Similar patent infringement cases are also filed at courts in South Korea, Japan and the U.K.

Earlier, Apple also won against smartphone maker HTC when the International Trade Commission (ITC) had agreed to review its patent infringement complaint against the Taiwan-based company.

The tablet market is getting highly competitive thanks to the open-source Android operating system. Leading tablet makers including Samsung, Motorola, HTC and LG  are leveraging Android to roll out a variety of devices at affordable rates to compete Apple.

Zacks.com thinks Apple’s impending lawsuits against several companies will remain an overhang on the stock going forward as the outcome remains uncertain.  

Apple has been consistent in its overall performance. During the last quarter, the company reported revenues and earning have grown 82 percent and 122 percent respectively, on a year over year basis. The recognized revenues from sales of iPad and iPad accessories during the last quarter totaled $6.05 billion, up 179 percent year over year and 113 percent sequentially.

Apple has established itself as the leading smartphone maker during the second quarter of 2011 and the release of the iPhone 5 in September will ensure that it continues to dominate the market, Zacks predicts.

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