In a Tuesday ruling which marked a major legal victory for Apple in its patent-infringement scuffle against Samsung, US District Judge Lucy Koh issued a court order that banned the US sales of granted Samsung's Galaxy Tab
10.1 touchscreen tablet.

Granting Apple's request for a preliminary injunction which would block Samsung's sales of the tablet in the US, Judge Koh said in her verdict that even though Samsung has every right to offer competition to the Apple iPad and other tablets, "it does not have a right to compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products."

The verdict by Koh comes after she had earlier turned down Apple's request for an injunction to ban the Galaxy Tab in the US. She was then ordered by the Federal US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D. C. - the court which reviews patent cases - to reconsider her decision. The court had also suggested that Apple's request for the injunction was apparently a reasonable one.

In her Tuesday verdict, Judge Koh said that "a strong case" had been presented by Apple to point out that Samsung's Galaxy 10.1 Tab violates the company's patents.

Further adding that granting Samsung the permission to sell the Galaxy Tab in the US would seemingly spell an "irreparable harm" for Apple, Judge Koh also ordered Apple to post over $2 million bond in case Samsung was later successful in proving that its tablet did not infringe upon Apple's patents.