Validity of Apple evidence questioned as Samsung ban lifted

Galaxy Tab given week-long reprieve as media onlookers question whether Apple doctored photo in court submission

Courts have lifted the ban on European sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 just a week after it was imposed.

Courts in Dusseldorf have removed the injunction until at least next week, when they will decide whether or not they had the power to pass judgments pertaining to countries other than Germany. Sales of the 10.1, which is Samsung's newest model of its Galaxy tablet PC, remain suspended in Germany.

The ban was put in place as part of the ongoing legal tussle between Samsung and Apple. The US firm accuses its Korean rival of copying aspects of the iPad's design.

But the legitimacy of Apple's claims is now under the spotlight, with the Mac maker accused of doctoring a photo of the two devices to help support its claim against Samsung. In its complaint to German courts, Apple included a picture (right - iPad on the left) of an iPad next to a Galaxy, and the two appear to have more or less identical proportions.

But Dutch website Webwereld has pointed out that the Galaxy is, in fact, somewhat longer and thinner. Apple faces media questions over whether it has misled courts by doctoring the image's aspect ratios.