Samsung Plans to Add iPhone 5 to Patent Infringement Case

Samsung advised U.S. Federal Court Judge Lucy Koh that it plans to analyze the iPhone 5 once it ships and will likely try to add the new smartphone to a second patent infringement case the electronics maker has against Apple. That case is scheduled for a March 2014 trial and includes eight patent infringement claims.

Samsung's legal team said in the filing,
Samsung anticipates that it will file, in the near future, a motion to amend its infringement contentions to add the iPhone 5 as an accused product... Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models. Samsung plans to file a motion to amend its infringement contentions to address the iPhone 5 as soon as it has had a reasonable opportunity to analyze the device.

Assuming Samsung does add the iPhone 5 to its infringement claim, the company could then ask the court for a preliminary injunction blocking sales of the smartphone in the U.S., according to Foss Patents. So far Samsung hasn't requested any preliminary injunctions against Apple in the U.S.

Samsung plans to add iPhone 5 to its second patent infringement case against AppleSamsung plans to add iPhone 5 to its second patent infringement case against Apple

Apple has its own patent infringement claims in the same case, and recently added the Galaxy S III, Note, and Note 10.1 to its complaint, and advised Judge Koh that Google's Android 4.1 operating system will be listed as an infringing technology.

"That is interesting in light of Google's recent statement on the jury verdict in the first Apple v. Samsung litigation, where Google claimed that '[m]ost of these [patent claims] don't relate to the core Android operating system'," said Florian Mueller of Foss Patents.

Apple recently won a big victory in its patent infringement fight with Samsung when a jury found that Samsung willfully infringed on several of Apple's technologies and awarded the iPhone and iPad maker over US$1 billion in damages.

Both companies are scheduled to appear before Judge Koh on September 26 to go over management details in this second case.