THE KOREA HERALD (South Korea), THE FINANCIAL TIMES (UK)
Samsung Electronics confirmed Tuesday that it has filed papers with a U.S. court that accuse Apple’s iPhone 5 of infringing its patents.
The South Korean electronics giant alleges that the new iPhone 5, launched September 21, infringes eight of its patents, including its wireless data technology. It was the latest salvo in a global battle over copyright and the billion-dollar smart phone and tablet market.
Samsung released a statement Tuesday, saying: “We have always preferred to compete in the marketplace with our innovative products, rather than in courtrooms. However, Apple continues to take aggressive legal measures that will limit market competition,” the Korea Herald reports.
Samsung added there was “little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights.””
The announcement came just hours after the same court in California lifted a sales ban on Samsung’s tablet device, Galaxy Tab 10.1. On August 25, the court had ruled in favor of Apple and ordered Samsung to pay $1 billion in damages, after determining that Samsung had infringed patents held by Apple.
Mark Newman, a previous employer at Samsung and analyst at Sanford C Bernstein, told the Financial Times: “They’re doing it to give them more leverage against Apple in the rest of the litigation process. Both parties will keep fighting tooth and nail in the courtroom, but it’s unlikely to result in significant product bans.”
