SAMSUNG took a hit in its battle against arch-rival Apple yesterday, when the European Union said it will probe if it is illegally trying to hinder competitors and Germany blocked sales of some of its tablets.

Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc are engaged in a strategic war over patents in many countries across the world as they try to draw market share away from each other.

The EU's antitrust watchdog thinks the South Korean company may be overstepping the bounds, however, and launched a formal investigation of whether Samsung is using lawsuits over key patents on 3G wireless technology to hinder competitors.

In Germany, an appeals court ruled in favor of Apple in a separate case, saying Samsung could not sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 nor the Galaxy Tab 8.9 in the country because they too closely resembled the iPad 2, in violation of unfair competition laws.