Samsung Electronics filed a motion in a U.S. federal court on Monday to add Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone 5, to its patent lawsuit. Also on Monday, a judge lifted a sales ban on the company’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Samsung’s motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks to add the iPhone 5 to its second lawsuit filed against Apple on April 18, the company said in a statement.
“We have always preferred to compete in the marketplace with our innovative products, rather than in courtrooms,” Samsung said. “However, Apple continues to take aggressive legal measures that will limit market competition. Under these circumstances, we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights.”
The same court dissolved a preliminary injunction banning sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh found that the basis for the injunction no longer exists since a jury found in August that Samsung did not violate the “D’889” design patent.
Koh also ruled a $2.6 million bond posted by Apple as a condition of obtaining the preliminary injunction will not be released until post-trial motions are resolved.
“We are pleased with the court’s action today, which vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple’s design patent and that an injunction was not called for,” Samsung said in a statement.
On Aug. 24, a jury found that Samsung must pay Apple US$1.05 billion for infringing several of its patents in Samsung smartphones and tablets.
