Are we ever going to see an end to the legal debacles between Samsung and Apple? It seems this may never happen, since a judge has ruled that the two can add more products to their existing patent disputes.
US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal, ruled that the two companies may add products to their existing lawsuits. He notes the two will just file new lawsuits if he didn’t allow them to add more products to their existing patent complaints.
The ruling will allow the Korean tech giant to add the iPhone 5 to its other models it claims infringes on its patents. The Cupertino firm will be adding the Galaxy Note and the US version of the Galaxy S3.
Apple is also claiming that Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) infringes its patents, but only in reference to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. It doesn’t directly attack Android as a whole.
In August, Apple won the biggest tech trial against Samsung, which resulted in the Korean firm being ordered by a jury to cough up over $1 billion in damages to the Cupertino firm.
Earlier during the year, in another lawsuit, a judge issued an injunction banning the sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US. The very same judge overturned the ruling in October.
When Apple lifted the lid on the iPhone 5, Samsung immediately wanted to add the handset to its list of iPhones that it claimed infringed on its patents.
There was no opposition from Apple, since it also gave them the opportunity to add more Samsung devices that they feel violate their patents. Judge Grewal ruled, “Apple should think twice before opposing similar amendments reflecting other newly released products, e.g. the iPad 4 and the iPad mini, that Samsung may propose in the future.”
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