Samsung is seeking an injunction to prevent the sale of Apple’s latest handset, the iPhone 4S, in France and Italy. The move is the latest in a series of spats between the two manufacturers over alleged patent infringements.
Apple has obtained injunctions preventing the sale of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany and Australia. Samsung has counter sued in other countries. It has also blocked sales of some Samsung smartphones in the Netherlands.
Colin Fowler, litigation lawyer at UK specialist IP law firm Rouse, commented: ‘This marks another step up in the war between the two biggest smartphone producers. If Samsung is successful in obtaining injunctions in the courts of Milan and Paris, Apple will be concerned about which countries are next on Samsung’s hit list for similar claims. Germany, for example, has some courts which take a tough line and of course it is economically important.
‘Having faced some serious reversals at Apple’s hands in courts in Germany and Australia recently, Samsung will be aiming to regain some ground, and injunction applications, if successful, are a quick and very effective way to do this. Apple in part scuppered Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch and now Samsung is trying to do the same to the iPhone 4S.
‘The patents Samsung is relying on relate to technology used as part of general industry standards, so if successful the cases will certainly be of wider concern for all the players in this field,’ said Fowler.
Editor: James Atkinson