Samsung plans to add iPhone 5 to existing patent suits against Apple

Samsung and Apple had been fighting patent suits in court for a very long time now with no sign of suits ending. With the launch of the iPhone 5, Samsung Electronics has announced this week that it plans to add Apple's newest smartphone to its existing patent lawsuits against the company. 
 
If Samsung happened to win an injunction against Apple in the patent suits, sales of the iPhone 5 could be blocked, but that seems unlikely. Apple had pre-order sales of over 2 million units in the first 24 hours of availability and will hit store shelves this Friday.
 
"Samsung anticipates that it will file, in the near future, a motion to amend its infringement contentions to add the iPhone 5 as an accused product," it said in a U.S. court filing.
 
"Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models."
 
Samsung issued a statement today that added, "Apple continues to take aggressive legal measures that will limit market competition. Under these circumstances, we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights."
 
The escalating legal battle comes after Apple scored a win in August when a U.S. jury found that Samsung had copied certain critical features of the Apple iPhone. Damages awarded Apple in that case amounted to $1.05 billion. The jury in that case also found that Apple had not infringed on any of Samsung's patents. Naturally, Samsung said it would appeal the ruling.
 
However, Apple recently asked the court to triple the award against Samsung to $3 billion.


IMOH, Patrick E.
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