Samsung aims to block sales of iPhone 4S in Europe

By Andrew Couts October 5, 2011

Less than 24 hours after Apple’s new chief executive Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone 4S, the company’s business nemesis, Samsung, has announced that it aims to block sales of the new handset in Italy and France due to patent violations.

Samsung says that, in each market, it would claim violation of two patents that pertain to the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access standards for mobile devices.

“The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices,” Samsung said in a statement. “Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology, and we will steadfastly protect our intellectual property.”

The maneuver is part of the ongoing legal war between the two electronics giants that is begin waged by both sides around the world. Apple began the series of battles back in April, after it claimed that the Samsung Galaxy line of smarphones and tablets “slavishly” copied Apple’s iPhone and iPad designs. Samsung counter-sued Apple in German, Japan and its home-country of South Korea, taking the war to a global scale.

By seeking the injunction against Apple and the iPhone 4S, Samsung is hitting back for a ban upheld by a German court that prohibits the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in that country – Europe’s largest market – because it too closely resembles the iPad 2.

While Apple and Samsung have long been partners in the production of a wide variety of devices (including the iPhone 4), Samsung appears to be ready to take off the gloves.

“We have kept our business relationship in mind, but we have had enough,” a Samsung official told The New York Times on a condition of anonymity. “We think it’s time to act more aggressively.”

To get a complete understanding of the Apple vs Samsung battle, check out our overview here.

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