Apple rejects Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 settlement

Apple has rejected a settlement offer from Samsung that would have allowed the Korean company to start selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia, Reuters reports.

Apple doesn't want to settle with Samsung because it's bent on securing a court ruling that the Tab 10.1 infringes on an Apple-owned patent. An Apple lawyer told the courts that Samsung's offer had no basis for a settlement, and stated, "The main reason we are here is to prevent the launch and maintain the status quo."

Chilling words. Samsung's efforts to launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 around the world have been stymied by Apple's barrage of lawsuits -- the slim Android slate is already banned from sale in Germany.

Last week Samsung agreed to tinker with the Tab 10.1, removing some features at Apple's behest. Now the dispute is over just one patent, to do with how touch input on a tablet is used to generate software commands. Apple has said that Samsung "slavishly" copies its gadgets, even the plugs and packaging.

A settlement would have allowed Samsung to start selling its Tab 10.1 in Australia before Christmas, which is a key time for any tech manufacturer to be flogging its wares. Samsung lawyer Neil Young (not that one) told the court that if a decision couldn't be reached by mid-October, Samsung would be in no rush and could take until March to prepare its defence.

He added that in that case, the Tab 10.1 would be "commercially dead".

Indeed, with the tech world moving at such a speedy pace, if Apple is able to delay the launch of Samsung's new gadgetry by just a month or two it would be seriously hobbled, as rival manufacturers churn out their own cutting-edge tech.

We've heard Samsung could be planning a legal attack on the new iPhone, which is due to be announced later today. That would seriously spoil Apple's fun.

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