Samsung seeks to ban iPhone 4S sales in Japan, Australia

Seoul, Oct 17: Samsung Electronics Co. said that it had asked judges in Japan and Australia to temporarily ban sales of the iPhone 4S, accusing Apple Inc. of violating its mobile and user interface patents.

In Japan, Samsung is also seeking to win a court injunction on the iPad 2, it said in a statement.

"Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology. We will no longer stand idly by and will steadfastly protect our intellectual property," Samsung's statement said.

Before the iPhone 4S hit shelves globally on Friday, Samsung filed motions in Italy and France to ban sales of the smartphone, also alleging Apple's violations of Samsung's mobile technologies.

Despite this, the iPhone 4S, one of the last products introduced during Steve Jobs' life, went on sale in seven countries, including France. The smartphone received forecast-beating demand around the world and broke the sales records of the previous iPhones.

The escalating legal disputes between Samsung and Apple that started in April spans a dozen countries and around 20 lawsuits, even though Apple is Samsung's biggest customer for its semiconductor business.

Apple secured a temporary sales ban on Samsung's tablet computer in Germany and Australia, which may ultimately force the Korean firm to miss out on the key holiday sales season. Samsung appealed to both courts, it said.

Dutch judges also ruled in favor of Apple last week, turning down Samsung's request to place an injunction on Apple's mobile devices for patent infringements.

In its latest offensive against the iPhone maker in Japan, Samsung claimed that Apple infringed on one mobile patent related to deciding the amount of power consumption during data transmission and three user interface patents on displaying information on the screen.

In Australia, Samsung accused Apple of infringing on three mobile patents related to data transmission, and transmitting and receiving data.

PTI