Apple also filed suit against Motorola Xoom in Europe

IDG News Service - Apple isn't just going after the Samsung Galaxy Tab in Europe, it's also attacking the Motorola Xoom.

Apple's lawsuit, which was filed in Germany and led to Tuesday's injunction barring sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe, makes reference to a separate complaint against the Motorola Xoom.

Patent expert Florian Mueller found the original lawsuit, filed in Dusseldorf, Germany, and pointed out the Motorola action.

The reference in the suit says that Apple has also filed a complaint over the design of the Motorola Xoom, which runs the Android operating system. But it's unclear if Apple is seeking an injunction that would immediately prevent Motorola from importing the tablets into Europe.

Motorola said the suit is in response to a complaint it filed against Apple in April, charging patent infringement. "Apple responded by filing its own patent infringement actions against Motorola in Germany including design patent infringement claims," the company said in a statement. "Motorola has reviewed Apple's claims and believe they have no merit. We intend to vigorously defend Motorola's own product designs."

Apple did not reply to requests for comment.

Apple and Motorola are also battling it out in U.S. courts over their competing phones. They have sued each other in court and the U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating complaints made by both companies.

While Apple dominates the tablet market and is the number-one individual vendor of smartphones, combined sales of Android phones surpass the iPhone. Apple is attacking Android via the tablet lawsuits and is also involved in legal action against other phone makers including HTC and Samsung.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com