Apple Inc., maker of the iPad and iPhone, for the second time failed to win a ban on sales of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy 10.1N from a German court.

The Dusseldorf Regional Court rejected the bid today in a case where Apple invoked a European design right. Apple last week lost a similar attempt over a technology patent in a Munich court.

A Dusseldorf appeals court last week upheld Apple's request to ban sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, the predecessor model. Samsung began selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, a revised version, in Germany last year to get around that ban. Samsung lost two patent rulings against its rival in a Mannheim court last month.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1N now sufficiently differs from the form Apple has registered as a design right,?the court said in a statement. "You can no longer talk of a quasi-identical copy" of the iPad.

The legal battle between Cupertino, California-based Apple and its closest competitor in tablet computers is intensifying as an increasing number of consumers use tablets and smartphones to visit websites, play games and download music. More patent rulings between the two are scheduled for the coming weeks.

Samsung said the ruling affirms its position that the Galaxy Tab 10.1N is distinctive and does not infringe the rights asserted by Apple. The Galaxy Tab 10.1N remains available to consumers in Germany, Samsung said.

Apple spokesman Alan Hely didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. (Bloomberg)