Apple scores victory against Samsung in France, can still sell iPhone 4S

A French court has denied Samsung’s preliminary injunction request to stop the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S, both parties confirmed today. The ruling was handed down by the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris.

In October, Samsung greeted the arrival of the latest iPhone by filing motions in Paris and Milan to stop the sale of the smartphone. Apple had infringed on patents related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) standards for 3G mobile handsets, according to Samsung.

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Samsung may have lost this round, but isn’t giving up the fight: “We will review the written grounds of today’s judgment, and continue to take all available options to assert our intellectual property rights to stop this free riding on our technology,” a spokesman said via email.

Apple didn’t want to elaborate on the specifics of the ruling in Paris, according to a spokesman.

But it is a welcome victory from Apple, because lately Samsung has been on the winning side in the global legal battle between the two. For example, a U.S. district court judge denied Apple’s request to halt sales of four Samsung products. Also, in Australia, Samsung is closer to being able to sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

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