Foreign visitors look around at a showroom displaying Samsung Electronics' products at the company's headquarters in Seoul
Foreign visitors look around at a showroom displaying Samsung Electronics' products at the company's headquarters in Seoul July 7, 2010. Samsung Electronics will struggle to replicate its record quarterly profits in the second half of the year as a fragile European economy cuts into demand for flat screens, and buoyant chip prices are set to ease. Reuters

Samsung has filed a countersuit against Apple for patent infringement on September 16 in Australia, where the South Korean company was prohibited from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet.

The countersuit has added weight to the growing legal battle between the two companies who are competing to dominate the smartphone industry.

Currently, at least 20 lawsuit cases across four continents have been filed and counterfiled by Apple and Samsung in which both of them accuse the other of intellectual property violations.

Samsung said in the claim filed with the Court of Australia that Apple’s iPhone and iPad are infringing seven patents related to wireless communications standards.

According to Bloomberg, the counter-claim also intends to invalidate and revoke the patents in relation to Galaxy Tab 10.1 held by Apple that have been used against Samsung.

Previously, Apple had targeted Samsung's devices for slavishly copying its intellectual property and successfully blocked Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia as part of a legal agreement. Samsung’s counteraction indicates that the company has become serious about Apple‘s blockade in Australia and Europe.

This spat is just a part of a larger battle between the two electronic giants in courts around the world. They both claim their rival's products violate existing patents. It seems that there will be more accusation flying thick in the future since both of them are preparing for new products release.