Edible Apple

Samsung’s legal strategy appears to be nothing more than throwing every patent they have against the wall and hope that something sticks to Apple.

After coming up short in Australia and having their request for an iPhone/iPad injunction in the Netherlands denied last week, Samsung has now filed suit against Apple in both Japan and Australia seeking to ban the sale of the iPhone 4S in those respective countries and the iPad 2 in Japan exclusively.

The filing in Japan cites infringements in technology and user interface patents, while in Australia Samsung cited patents related to wireless telecommunications standards.

The fresh legal action comes after key rulings in the sprawling legal dispute went against Samsung last week, and shows how critical the smartphone and tablet PC business has become to Samsung. The Korean giant is widely expected to have overtaken Apple in global smartphone sales in the third quarter.

It’s hard to gauge the merits of this case without first knowing which patents Samsung is asserting against Apple. If the patents in question are encumbered by RAND obligations, like the ones Samsung asserted in the Netherlands, don’t expect much to come of Samsung’s latest legal effort to stick it to Apple. Remember that Apple is under no obligation to license its iPhone patents out to anyone. Samsung, on the other hand, has made a habit of asserting patents that are encumbered by RAND obligations. That said, Samsung can’t really sue Apple for patent infringement without first trying to secure fair and non-discriminatory licensing terms from them first.

Something tells us that Samsung, having been on the losing end of legal decisions in Australia, the Netherlands and German is now desperate to secure some leverage of its own against Apple. That said, the fact that it’s thus far had to resort to using RAND encumbered patents demonstrates a tinge of desperation on behalf of the Korean-based electronics giant.

via WSJ