The Judge overseeing the patent infringement battle beween Apple and Samsung in Australia has ruled that the iPhone maker must hand over copies of its contracts with cell service providers in the country.
Samsung requested the documents to support a claim that Apple requires carriers to subsidize iPhone sales. Assuming Apple argues it doesn’t impose subsidies as part of its contracts, it will have to submit the documents to Samsung, according to Bloomberg.
Samsung to Apple: Show us your contracts
Samsung also asked for the iPhone 4S firmware source code to help prove Apple is infringing on its patents. Apple already handed over 220 pages of code-related documents, but Samsung still wants more.
“Someone out there is attempting to obfuscate,” said Samsung attorney Cynthia Cochrane.
Apple and Samsung have been locked in a legal battle over patent infringement claims for several months. Both companies have alleged that the other’s mobile devices use patented technologies without proper licensing, and have filed lawsuits against each other in the U.S. and other countries.
A German court upheld an injunction blocking the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the country, and the company filed an appeal in hopes of overturning that ruling. Apple was also awarded a temporary injunction through a Dutch court blocking the sale of some Galaxy devices in the European Union, along with current temporary injunction blocking the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia.
For its part, Apple isn’t interested in giving Samsung more documents, and sees the electronics maker’s requests as little more than attempts to dig up information to use in its defense.
“We will resist any attempts by our friends to push us into a corner [on subsidies],” said Apple attorney Andrew Fox. “This is quite clearly a fishing expedition.”