The legal spat between Samsung and Apple continues as South Korean company files a countersuit against Apple in Australia in retaliation to the legal action started by Apple in the same country that caused Samsung to voluntarily postpone the release of their Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet.
Samsung have been at pains to point out that the postponement of their tablet release was voluntary with the courts as yet to make a ruling on the claims by Apple that Samsung outright copied their unnamed designs and patents. The court is expected to make a verdict on that case in a weeks time.
This action brought by Samsung is over seven Australian patents owned by Samsung covering the wireless technology used in the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2. The company also goes further in its claims, proposing that Apple’s legal action should be dropped as the patents they claim Samsung are infringing with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 are themselves invalid.
The legal battle between the two countries has reached fever pitch recently with a number of legal cases being brought in various states across the globe – all started with Apple’s claim that Samsung, then a major supplier of parts to Apple, was copying Apple’s industrial designs. I have been pretty clear with my view on these cases being Apple trying to sue rather than innovate to maintain their advantage in the smartphone and tablet markets, but we’ll be watching closely as they play out round the world.