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Samsung has gotten a bit of a reprieve in its legal battle with Apple over the fate of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. A German court has lifted some of the restrictions on sales of the tablet in the European Union.

Previously in As The Tablet Turns, Apple had filed a suit against Samsung claiming that the company’s new 10 inch tablet is little more than a cheap knockoff of the Apple iPad 2. While the case is still in the early stages, a German court granted Apple a preliminary injunction last week. The injunction declared that Samsung couldn’t sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany… or in any other European Union nation with the exception of the Netherlands due to some differences in the way things are handled there.

Today the court adjusted its ruling to say that Samsung’s German division couldn’t distribute the tablet in the European Union. But since Samsung is based in South Korea and has regional divisions throughout the globe, there’s nothing stopping them from selling the tablet in other EU countries… for now.

The preliminary injunction isn’t a final decision. It will likely be months, if not years, before a court issues a final ruling in the case or Samsung and Apple reach some sort of settlement. But the injunction could have at least temporarily caused a lot of trouble for Samsung, which has recently pushed an awful lot of time, effort, and money into developing its 10 inch Android tablet. I’m pretty sure Samsung execs would like to sell the tablet in as many countries as possible.

Right now it looks like Germany is off the list though… and also Australia.