Samsung files to stop Japan, Australia iPhone 4S sales

Samsung launched another volley in its global legal battle with Apple on Monday, filing claims to block the sale of the iPhone 4S in Australia and Japan.

The Korean electronics manufacturer said it had also filed to immediately block sales of the older iPhone 4 and iPad 2 in Japan. The legal attack is the latest in a series between the two companies around their competing tablets and smartphones, which has seen Apple win several early victories.

"We will no longer stand idly by, and will steadfastly protect our intellectual property," Samsung said in a press release.

Samsung said it had filed a legal injunction in the Tokyo District Court based on one patent related to High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and three user interface patents. The Australian motion was filed in the New South Wales Registry on three patents related to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and HSPA.

The user interface patents Samsung said were violated in Japan include the small airplane icon that appears when an iPhone is in "flight mode," a patent for customizing a phone's home screen and a layout for browsing applications on sale via a phone.

Last week, Apple won an interim injunction to prevent the sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, and then Samsung had its parent infringement claims rejected at a district court in the Hague.

Apple stopped Samsung from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany in October, and in August a court in the Hague banned the shipments of three Samsung smartphones in Europe, though the Korean company came up with an update that circumvents the patent in question.

Japan was one of the first countries in the world to sell Apple's iPhone 4S. At the launch Friday morning, hundreds lined up in the streets throughout Tokyo to buy the phone, and the heavy demand took down registration servers at a major carrier for several hours.

(Source: computerworld.com)