An Australian court has temporarily banned Samsung from selling its new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer in the country, until the legal stoush between the two companies regarding patents has been resolved. Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett on Thursday granted a temporary injunction against sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. The decision prevents Samsung Electronics Co. from selling the device in Australia in its current form until a further court order, or until a pending patent lawsuit between the warring technology giants is resolved.

The ruling comes after courts in other countries including Germany and the Netherlands made judgments that upheld Apple's claims that its intellectual property had been appropriated by Samsung.

In April, Apple sued Samsung in the United States, alleging the product design, user interface and packaging of Samsung's Galaxy devices "slavishly copy" the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung fought back with lawsuits of its own, accusing Apple of patent infringement of its wireless telecommunications technology.

Apple filed the Australian lawsuit in July, accusing Samsung of copying its touch screen technology.

It is not clear whether Samsung could to sell a variation of the device that removed the features Apple objected to in the Australian lawsuit, as the company plans to do in a corresponding ban related to its smartphones in The Netherlands.

Samsung has also filed its Australian countersuit in September, in an effort to prove Apple violated its wireless technology patents.