Striking close to home: Apple sues Samsung in South Korea
The patent-infringement allegations just keep flying between the two companies
First Apple sued Samsung Electronics in a U.S. court back in April, arguing that the South Korean company's Galaxy mobile products violated up to 10 patents by "slavishly" copying iPad and iPhone design and technology specs.
(Also see: Why Samsung took the Apple patent battle international)
Samsung quickly retaliated with its own patent-infringement claims, launching legal action against Apple in four countries -- South Korea, Japan, Germany and the U.S.
Now Apple is saying, "You want a (patent violation) world war? It's on!"
From Bloomberg:
The maker of the iPhone filed a suit with the Seoul Central District Court on June 22, according to a case record on the court’s website, which doesn’t provide details of Apple’s claims. Online news provider MoneyToday reported that Apple is alleging that Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphone copied the iPhone 3 design.
Which, to me, would make the Galaxy S a little behind the curve these days, but I suppose that doesn't matter to the corporate lawyers, who love the smell of depositions in the morning.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is sticking by its claim that "Samsung 'blatantly' copied its technologies and designs."
OK, Apple, was it "slavishly" or "blatantly"? C'mon, pick an adverb and stick with it!
For its part, Samsung reiterated its vow to "actively defend and protect our intellectual property," Bloomberg reports.
Samsung was ordered by a federal judge in May to hand over to Apple five unreleased mobile phones as part of the discovery process for Apple's lawsuit against the South Korean company.*
Free legal advice for attorneys representing companies facing patent-infringement allegations: Argue that your clients' products actually are an "homage." It just might work.
* (Initially I wrote that both companies have been ordered to hand over products to each other. Only Samsung has, though it requested that the court require Apple to do the same. That request was denied this week. H/T to patent expert Florian Mueller for pointing out that mistake.)