UPDATE [Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 7:25am ET]: A Samsung spokesperson chimed in, providing us with the official statement, included at the end of this article.
After Samsung confirmed the addition of four more complaints to its German patent offensive (two are standard-related patents, the other two being utility patents) on Monday, Apple this morning fired back by extending its Australian patent complaint to include Samsung-made cases for Galaxy tablets and smartphones, according to Bloomberg.
We discovered in July that Samsung was marketing a Smart Cover knock-off for its Galaxy Tab tablet. The product was adorned with the “Designed for Samsung Mobile” certification and was carried in Samsung’s branded stores in South Korea. Youngbo Engineering owns Anymode, the company behind these cases, which is headed by Sang-yong Kim. He is the nephew of the Samsung’s chairperson Kun-Hee Lee.
UPDATE: Samsung says that the additional claims refer to the utility of mobile devices and design rights related to the external appearance of devices, not Samsung’s protective case accessories. Here’s the official statement provided by a Samsung spokesperson:
- Apple sues Samsung over smartphone and tablet cases, too (9to5mac.com)
- Judge rejects Apple’s request to block Samsung smartphone and tablet sales in the U.S. (9to5google.com)
- Samsung alters Galaxy smartphones to avoid Apple patents in Netherlands court (9to5mac.com)
- US Judge says Samsung tablets do infringe Apple patents but doesn’t issue an injunction (9to5mac.com)
