Apple halts Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales in Australia

Apple’s legal battle with Samsung came to a head this morning, as the iPad maker won an agreement from Samsung that will hold off sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets in Australia, Bloomberg reports.

An Apple lawyer argued that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringes on 10 Apple patents and that the company is pursuing similar injunctions in other countries. Samsung agreed to hold off on advertising and selling its tablet until the court rules in its favor or the lawsuit is resolved. Apple will owe Samsung damages if it ends up losing the patent infringement suit.

We’ve asked Samsung for further comment and will update when we hear back.

The news is a continuation of Apple’s legal squabbles with Samsung, which began in April with a U.S. lawsuit over the company’s Galaxy Android smartphones and tablets. Apple argued that Samsung’s devices “slavishly” imitated its iPhone and iPad. Samsung filed a counter-suit against Apple, but Apple escalated the dispute even further by filing a lawsuit in South Korea, Samsung’s home country.

The Australian injunction is also a further sign that Apple and Samsung likely won’t be able to work together amicably in the future. Samsung currently manufactures Apple’s custom A5 and A5 mobile chips, but a recent report hinted that Apple may look to Taiwan Semiconductor for that task in the future.

Samsung’s success with its Galaxy S phones likely drew Apple’s ire. The company sold 10 million Galaxy S phones last year, and it just recently announced that it sold 5 million Galaxy S IIs in 85 days. Samsung expects to sell a total of 60 million smartphones (including cheaper models) by the end of the year.