The court, in the western city of Duesseldorf, said Samsung´s Galaxy Tab 10.1 computer, a rival to Apple´s iconic iPad, had infringed key patent laws.[break]
Presiding judge Johanna Brueckner-Hoffmann said there was a "clear impression of similarity" between the Apple and the Samsung products.
As an example, she cited the "minimalist, modern form" of the two firms´ products, with flat screens and rounded edges.
However, the court limited the sales ban to Germany, despite ruling in a previous judgement that the ban should be Europe-wide.
The court ruled that "it could only be competent to order a Europe-wide ban for a firm headquartered outside the European Union if this firm has a German subsidiary," it said in a statement.
The Korean firm, which denies Apple´s argument that it had "slavishly" copied the market-leading iPhone and iPad, had to pull its latest Galaxy Tab 7.7 inch from a major electronics fair in Berlin earlier this week in view of the case.
Industry analysts say that in the fast-moving world of tablet computers, which have a very short shelf-life before being replaced by improved products, even a temporary ban on sales can be fatal.
The two firms are also locked in legal battles in Australia, the United States and Asia. Samsung has responded to Apple´s accusations by filing suits of its own in Seoul, asking for a ban on sales of the US firm´s products in South Korea.
Samsung´s Galaxy Tab, hailed by some in the industry as an "iPad killer", has been a huge-selling rival to the touch-screen phenomenon.
Despite their prickly competition, the two actually have a close business relationship.
Apple was Samsung´s second-biggest client in 2010 after Japan´s Sony, accounting for four percent of the South Korean firm´s 155 trillion won ($143 billion) annual revenue.
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