US court bans sales of Samsung tablet in legal battle with iPad

A US court has banned sales of Samsung tablet computer the Galaxy Tab 10.1 while the company resolves a patent battle with Apple, makers of the rival iPad.

Apple claim that Samsung have infringed their design patent and copied the look of their hugely popular touchscreen computer.

US tech giant Apple have had to post a massive £1.67m bond, which will be paid to Samsung if the ban is shown to be unnecessary.

The trial for the case will begin on July 30 in California.

US District Judge Lucy Koh said: "Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products."

Samsung have said that the injunction is unlikely to have a large impact on its business, as it does not affect their new release, the Galaxy Tab 10.1.2

The two companies are engaged in various legal battles around the world, with Apple also trying to ban Samsung smartphone, the Galaxy S3.

A Dutch court last week awarded South Korean firm Samsung damages from Apple over a dispute about how their devices connect to the internet.

And in December 2011, a German court threw out a complaint from Apple about a different Samsung product.

But the legal battle hasn't stopped the two companies from working together - with the latest iPad using components made by Samsung.

In the first three months of this year Apple sold 13.6m iPads, while Samsung sold 1.6m tablets over the same period.