Edible Apple

The iPhone 5 doesn’t even officially exist but that isn’t stopping Samsung from whetting the appetite of its legal team. In a new report from the Korea Times, Kim Yoo-Chul writes that Samsung is already preparing a new patent lawsuit against Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 for violating patents relating to wireless technologies.

“Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents,” said a senior executive from Samsung Electronics, asking not to be identified.

“For as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights.”

That’s a pretty telling quote because as we’ve explained earlier, Apple alleges that the patents Samsung asserts against them are all part of established industry standards. Consequently, Samsung is obligated to license those patents on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. In other words, Apple argues that Samsung can’t wield those patents offensively as part of a patent infringement suit.

Looked at from another perspective, Samsung appears to be throwing everything at a wall and hoping that something sticks. They’ve already been on the receiving end of judgements in Australia and Germany that preclude them from selling and marketing their Galaxy tablets on account of them appearing too similar to Apple’s iPad.

Somewhat interesting is a blurb from Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung who explained, “Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer. Hewlett-Packard, Nokia and Sony were Samsung’s previous big clients, however, Apple is now a primary one. From our perspective, we are not entirely happy (about the litigations).”