An Australian retailer is playing a bit of ‘cat-and-mouse’ with Apple and a recent court ruling blocking sales of Samasung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. Any hope of staying off Apple’s radar, however, vanished with a taunting online note and offshore servers melting under the crush of demand.
Retailer dMavo is at least one Australian firm attempting to bypass a court injunction against sales of Samsung’s tablet. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, dMavo is getting around the sales ban by using a European company outside the court’s jurisdiction. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 devices are then sent from Asia to customers.
The end-run by the company is reportedly being greeted with a ton of sales by Australian consumers unable to buy locally. In fact, demand has been so heavy that dMavo’s servers experienced some trouble. The company has also not been shy to talk about avoiding the court sanctions. Before removing it, dMavo displayed this message on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 order page: “We will not bow down to Apple.” Naturally, such bravado prompted quite a few calls from reporters, who all found the company owner ready to talk.
“Was Apple just bluffing or do they really want to play the cat and mouse game? We’re up for it,” said the retailer’s managing director, Wojtek Czarnocki. Patent attorneys have told the Sydney publication dMavo could be hit with significant fines if found to be flaunting the injunction. Any profits from the European deal cannot wind up back in Australia or come in contact with any Australian company, they warned. The retailer could also be hit by a court wanting to ensure the legal system retains its authority.
At any rate, dMavo is anxiously awaiting Samsung’s Nov. 25 court appeal of the injunction, hoping the South Korean firm can overturn the Apple victory before the tech giant’s well-financed legal team lands like a ton of bricks.
