Australian retailer defies Apple injunction

AN AUSTRALIAN RETAILER is continuing to sell the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 despite an injunction obtained by Apple in the land down under.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, retailer Dmavo is restructuring its business in the hope of overcoming Apple's legal threats.

Apple won a temporary injunction against Samsung last month stopping the company from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia until a full hearing in the Australian Federal Court that's scheduled for 25 November.

However, several Australian online sellers have continued to sell the Galaxy Tab and Dmavo said it has created a separate entity in Europe to get around the ban, while it has the tablets delivered to its customers from Asia.

Dmavo managing director Wojtek Czarnocki told the Sydney Morning Herald,"We have a new entity established and a separate server - just to deal with the tablet orders - that is undergoing testing as of last Saturday."

"Was Apple just bluffing or do they really want to play the cat and mouse game? We're up for it."

Czarnocki added that setting up a new entity cost the firm "next to nothing" compared with the benefits the company could receive from continuing to sell the tablets.

However, experts said that Apple could apply to the Federal Court for further injunctions even if the seller was based overseas, so Dmavo could be playing a risky game.

Apparently, moving the business unit and servers offshore does not prevent the firm from being liable for patent infringement in Australia if it is selling to Australians and importing infringing products into the country.

We are wondering if Dmavo's move might be a publicity stunt, but it is a move that could come back to bite the company in the coming weeks. µ