A federal court has lifted the sales ban on Samsung's Galaxy tablet but the legal battle is not yet over as Apple is taking the case to the High Court.

Justices John Dowsett, Lindsay Foster and David Yates overturned Justice Annabelle Bennett's ruling last month banning the sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia saying it was wrong. The three justices said Bennett failed to assess the strengths of Apple's case, as she was required to do before granting the injunction blocking the Galaxy tablet from sale.

"She should have found that there was no arguable case of infringement of the heuristics patent," their ruling said, according to Sydney Morning Herald.

The justices added that current evidence failed to show that selling the Galaxy in Australia infringed on Apple's touch screen patent.

Judge Foster granted Apple's last minute appeal for a stay of the ban until Friday 4 p.m. amid protest from Samsung (005930:KS) .

Any stay, even of a short duration, should not be granted as this will cause substantial injustice and hardship to Samsung, said Samsung lawyer Peter Chalk, according to Sydney Morning Herald.

Nonetheless, Samsung is pleased with the decision as it will allow the Korean company to sell its tablet in time for Christimas shopping season this month.

It will also prove challenging for Apple to obtain a new injunction from the High Court, if the opinion of an IP lawyer from Queensland University of Technology is right.

The lawyer, Peter Black, doubts if the High Court will allow Apple's appeal or even grant the U.S. company further stay of the sales ban.

"The High Court will usually take cases when there is a novel question of law and almost never takes cases on an interlocutory basis," Sydney Morning Herald quoted Black as saying.

Meanwhile, Samsung's petition to ban the sale of Apple's iPhone 4S in Australia will be heard either in March or April. The iPhone 4S went into sale in the country in October.

The two companies are currently locked in legal disputes over patent infringement in several countries. Apple also had blocked the sales of Samsung tablets in Germany on grounds that the rival product copied its touch screen technology.