By Cho Mu-hyun
Samsung Electronics stabbed Apple in the back by filing a complaint against the iPhone maker just after a U.S. court recommended the two parties find a compromise through negotiations regarding patents.
The Korean firm said Friday it had filed a lawsuit with the Northern District Court of California over eight of Apple’s products over copyright infringements Wednesday (local time), merely hours after the court ruling.
The latest case concerns Apple’s new iPad, released in 10 countries last month and in Korea this week, as well as other flagship items including the iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
``Samsung is unchanged in its position to strongly respond to any legal action taken against the company,” said a representative. “The new lawsuit is our answer to Apple’s claims in February.’’
Apple filed a lawsuit two months ago, which added the Galaxy Nexus to an already long list of products it says violates copyrights.
The current case was lodged just after the U.S. court called for a one-on-one meeting between Samsung Electronics CEO Choi Gee-sung and his Apple counterpart Tim Cook to solve the legal standoff between the two technology giants.
The two companies agreed in the same California court to arrange a sit-down the same day, though a trial has been scheduled for August 25.
Despite the new legal action, Samsung claims the peace talks will commence as expected. “The new lawsuit is a separate matter to the mitigation order by the court (of California) made Wednesday,” the representative said.
Apple first sued Samsung after the Korean firm released the immensely popular Galaxy range last year which is selling well worldwide. Starting in April 2011, the two have sued and counter-sued in the courts of 10 nations over the design of their respective products.
In November, Apple seemed to have gained the upper hand when European and Australian authorities ordered preliminary injunctions barring Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 from shelves.
Two of the eight patents in allegations made by Apple refer to products that must be offered to competitors on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms. The European Union, following a request by Apple, is currently investigating whether Samsung has been overcharging on FRAND products to competitors.
The two technology giants are the main competitors in the global electronics market worldwide.
Besides the competition, Apple is also one of Samsung’s biggest corporate clients, having agreed to buy around $11 billion of the Korean companies’ LCDs and memory chips this year. Apple purchased $7.8 billion worth of components last year.