Samsung 'to seek UK ban on iPhone 5'

The South Korean company could seek in injunction in Europe and in Korea against Apple’s new iPhone, which it apparently believes will use technology that violates its patents.

Though little is known about Apple’s new iPhone, Samsung believes the phone will almost certainly rely on telecoms patents that it holds, according to South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper.

The two companies have been locked in legal battles worldwide over the last few months. Apple initially sued Samsung in the US in April, claiming that its products had been “slavishly” copied by its rivals. Samsung counter-sued almost immediately.

Earlier this summer Apple briefly obtained a Europe-wide injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, a tablet computer that Apple claimed had copied elements of its iPad. A German court later lifted the Europe-wide ban but upheld a ban on the device in Germany.

While the Galaxy Tab case was about intellectual property, the hypothetical injunction against the iPhone 5 would be a patent infringement claim.

“We are preparing aggressive legal suits against Apple, shifting away from our defensive strategy. We stand a good chance of winning the cases if we use our patents related to wireless communications standards,“ a Samsung spokesman told the Financial Times.
The new iPhone remains shrouded in secrecy, as Apple products always are before launch. However, it is expected that the handset will be called iPhone 5 and could be released alongside a smaller ‘iPhone 4S’. Rumours about the phone suggest that it will have a faster processor, an improved camera and will be released some time next month.

By Shane Richmond taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8778656/Samsung-to-seek-UK-ban-on-iPhone-5.html