A trade court in Dusseldorf, Germany has found Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd.'s (SEO 005930) guilty of violating Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) patented design, which is featured in the iPad.
But the German court's ruling appears to state that Apple owns sole rights to "minimalist" tablet designs. According to Apple's patent [Scribd], a "minimalist" design is any thin rectangular tablet, with few buttons on its face.
Ultimately, this ruling seems to indicate that Apple has sole rights to make ~10-inch tablets in Germany. While a competitor in theory could make a rival design, it would have to:
a) Have an abundance of physical buttons on the face
b) Be substantially thicker or heavier than the iPad
c) Not be a rectangle (e.g. a circular tablet)
Apple: Apa sahaja benda yg bersegiempat dan ada touch button melanggar hak patent saya!
Adoi! Sungguh aku tak paham. Takleh segiempat, kena buat Tablet PC Segitiga le nampaknya! Bentuk Bintang2 ke ape, macam kuih Raya.
http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Crushes+Samsung+in+German+Court+Galaxy+Tab+101+Ban+is+Complete/article22682.htm