Lawsuit debacle escalates as neither party is willing to back down

Oct 17, 2011 19:31 GMT  ·  By

Samsung sues Apple in Australia over the latter's alleged infringement of three 3G patents in the making of the iPhone 4S, demanding a ban from Australian stores.

Users probably know of the big battle that Apple and Samsung got embroiled in a while ago, after the former sued the latter over the Galaxy Tab.

Seeing that Apple was seriously seeking the total exclusion of the tablet from every market it could complain in, Samsung eventually started to sue it as well.

The result is a series of courtroom showdowns that, alas, Apple seems to have been getting the better part of the deal out of.

After all, it actually managed to get the galaxy tab 10.1 banned not just in Germany, but also in Australia, not long ago.

Apple also won a victory in the US, which means that the tablet could get banned there as well.

That said, Samsung is preparing to appeal in those areas, but that doesn't mean it can't strike back in other ways.

Indeed, the company is now hoping to gain an injunction against Apple's iPhone 4S, for violating three 3G patents.

This is the same claim it made in Europe, when it asked that the item be banned in Italy and France. "Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology," Samsung said. "We will steadfastly protect our intellectual property."

It is unclear what will happen, but not too unclear, since Apple already won a victory against these same claims in the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Samsung also sued Apple in Japan, concerning one patent for HSPA-based 3G and three user interface patents.

Again, the same patent system loopholes apply, so onlookers who hopes that the new law would get things to settle down on the legal level are in for a disappointment.