Apple adds Samsung's new flagship phone to copycat list

Apple Inc. has included Samsung Electronics Co.'s latest flagship smartphone on its patents infringement list, Samsung officials said Saturday, ramping up its high-stakes global legal battle against its Korean rival.

The U.S. tech giant submitted a revised filing at a U.S. federal court on Aug. 31, requesting that a total of 21 new products made by Samsung, including its latest smartphone Galaxy S3, be added to its infringement list, they said.

Galaxy S3, released in late May, is the newest in the Samsung's smartphone series. In the latest court filing, Apple labeled the Galaxy S3 a "copycat product."

"(Apple) tries to block innovation by letting lawsuits lead market competition and (we) will take counteractions so that consumers aren't hindered from choosing our products," Park Cheon-ho, a Samsung public relations director, told Yonhap News Agency in a phone interview.

According to Park, Apple also added Samsung's Galaxy Note smartphone to its latest patents infringement list. The patents Apple claims Samsung has violated include user interface (UI), a technology aimed to provide users handier functions and faster interaction with the gadget.

Apple defended its action, accusing Samsung of copying its products.

"The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patent or money. They were about values," Park Jeong-hoon, a spokesman for the U.S. company's Korean unit, said in a statement.

"At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making best products on earth. We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy," he said.

Following its recent U.S. court victory that included US$1.05 billion in damages, Apple had filed for an injunction to ban the sales of eight Samsung products only four days earlier.

With its latest court filing, Apple is seeking a sales ban on a total of 21 Samsung smartphones, media players and tablet PCs will be affected, Samsung officials said.

Apple's latest move comes on the heels of its defeat in Japan in a separate patents suit against Samsung. On Friday, a Japanese court found Apple's claim invalid, giving an upper hand to the Korean company.

Industry experts said the ongoing patents battle between the world's top two mobile phone makers will take a long time, with the first ruling unlikely to be expected before late next year. (Yonhap)