Samsung won a battle in its global fight with Apple over patents, as an Australian court allowed customers to buy Samsung's Galaxy tablet as early as Dec. 2. An Australian federal court decided to lift a preliminary injunction, imposed by a lower court, on sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1. However, a delay in lifting the temporary sales ban could give Apple time for an appeal.

Apple was granted an injunction against Samsung in October, temporarily barring Australian sales of the Galaxy 10.1 tab, a competitor to Apple's iPad until Amazonlaunched its Kindle Fire. Apple claims Samsung?s tablet infringes at least two of its patents relating to the operation and interface of a touch screen.

Apple also filed a preliminary injunction request in Germany on Monday to ban sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, a re-designed version of 10.1-inch Galaxy model, whose sales are already banned in that market.

Apple and Samsung have been locked in a battle in 10 countries involving smartphones and tablets since April. Apple moved to block Samsung from selling its tablets in Germany and a case in the Netherlands has forced Samsung to modify some smartphone models.

Samsung is also trying to block sales of Apple's latest iPhone 4S, which went on sale early last month, by filing preliminary sales injunction requests in four countries, including Australia. An Australian court will hear that case in March and April.