Apple has been awarded a preliminary injunction barring Samsung from importing, distributing, or selling its Galaxy S, Galaxy SII, and Ace smartphones in the European Union. Samsung must halt sales of the devices by October 13 in the EU, though its Galaxy Tab devices aren't affected for the time being.

Apple launched an all-out attack on Samsung earlier this year, accusing the company of "slavishly copying" the design of the iPhone and iPad for its own smartphones and tablets in a US lawsuit. The dispute has since spilled over into 19 separate legal actions in nine different countries around the world, including Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, UK, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

Apple has so far won favorable rulings in Australia, where Samsung has for now delayed the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and in Germany, where it won a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 based on a European Community Design registration.

Apple can claim another small victory on Wednesday, as a judge in The Hague ruled that Samsung's Galaxy S, Galaxy SII, and Ace smartphones violate an Apple European patent. Specifically, the judge noted that Samsung's Android-based smartphone's infringed on EP 2,059,868, "Portable Electronic Device for Photo Management." The nature of the full decision is unclear, but it appears that the judge has so far rejected Apple's claims that the devices also infringe on patents for interpreting certain multitouch events and swiping along a graphic to unlock a phone.

But the decision isn't the slam dunk Apple was hoping it would be. Notably, the ruling does not affect Samsung's Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy Tab 10.1v tablets. Furthermore, the court did not consider Apple's claims that Samsung's smartphones and tablets violate its copyright and design registrations—apparently Apple did not offer any counter to certain arguments Samsung made with respect to those claims, so the judge did not consider them for the preliminary injunction. Those issues will be decided later during the full trial.

It also appears that Apple may have let slide some local registrations for the patent in question, so the ban may not be enforceable in much of Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Spain. However, the patent is crucially enforceable in The Netherlands, where Samsung's European logistics is based. Effectively, Samsung will have to completely rearrange its European logistics in order to get its smartphones into the parts of Europe where the ban doesn't apply. That's not an impossible task, but it will likely be a major headache in the least.

"From what I gather, it is somewhat unusual for the Dutch court to enter a preliminary injunction in complicated patent cases like this," Evan Brown, a Chicago-based attorney that specializes in tech-related law, told Ars.

Though the standard for showing evidence for a preliminary injunction is perhaps a bit softer in The Netherlands than in the US, the judge focused mainly on the potential hardships of both parties given a particular decision. "It is my understanding that a Dutch court focuses more on that balancing of the hardships test, rather than on the strength of the original claim," Brown said.

Though it's easy to add a notch in Apple's win column, the case isn't over yet, Brown noted. "All this talk about preliminary injunctions can get crazy," he said. "The most important thing to remember is that it does not mean Samsung has lost the case. There will still be a full trial—assuming there is no settlement."

For its part, Samsung has vowed to fight the ruling and find workarounds to the injunction. "We will take all possible measures including legal action to ensure that there is no disruption in the availability of our Galaxy smartphones to Dutch consumers," the company told BBC News.

The injunction issues by the Dutch court goes into effect on October 13, around the same time that Apple and Samsung will begin oral arguments on a preliminary injunction against Samsung in the US. Brown suggested that Apple may have a much tougher legal challenge getting an injunction here. "The standard required in a US court, among other things, is that a party seeking an injunction would have to show that it is likely to succeed on the merits [of the case]."

Ars correspondents Chris Lee and Iljitsch van Beijnum contributed to this report.