Apple iPhone 5 Added To Latest Patent Infringement Lawsuit By Samsung, Hearing Scheduled For 2014

In a court filing Monday, South Korean tech giant Samsung added the latest iPhone 5 to an existing patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the device had infringed certain wireless and feature patents held by the company.

The new lawsuit was preceded by another jury trial in August, in which Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages after determining that Samsung did infringe six of Apple’s patents. Later on, in a second patent suit, the iPhone-maker again accused more than 20 Samsung devices, including the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Nexus, of violating a different set of patents altogether.

In a counterattack, Samsung too had claimed infringement of its patents by Apple products and has accused the iPhone 5 of violating the same patents that include two Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) wireless patents and six "feature patents,” already leveled against earlier the iPhone models, as well as the iPad and iPod Touch.

Monday’s court filing said that as soon as the iPhone 5 was made available for purchase, Samsung started investigating the product and found that it had indeed infringed its two standards patents and six features patents.

“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. Under these circumstances, we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights,” Samsung said in a statement.

As noted by The Verge, since this second case is still in its infancy, “there's no reason to believe Samsung won't be allowed to include the iPhone 5 in its claims.” However, the device won’t officially be included to the suit until both the companies face each other in a hearing with Judge Paul Grewal.

Reports said that the case in which Samsung targeted the iPhone 5 is scheduled for trial in 2014, with both the parties asserting eight patent claims against each other. The case would reportedly be heard by the same court that was responsible for the landmark Apple vs. Samsung lawsuit in August.

The new lawsuit came after Judge Lucy Koh dissolved a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1, because of which the device had been banned in the U.S. since June.

Koh said since jurors concluded in their Aug. 24 verdict that Samsung didn’t violate the Apple design patent that was the base for the injunction, there is no reason to continue with it, Bloomberg reported.

The current case is Apple vs. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) Ltd., 12- cv-630, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

Check out the court filing below:

Samsung Filing Against iPhone 5