Know why Samsung is waiting for iPhone 5 launch

It is not just the Apple fanboys who are eagerly awaiting the iPhone 5 to launch. Apple's arch rival Samsung too is waiting to get its hands on the iPhone 5. However, rather than comparing its capabilities with its flagship Galaxy S III, the South Korean manufacturer is waiting to see how many of its patents does the new iPhone violate.

According to Foss Patents, a blog that covers news about wireless patents and mobile devices, Samsung has filed a case management statement with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Apple. In the filing, the company said that it is certain Apple iPhone 5 will infringe upon eight of its patents, just like the previous iPhones.

The filing, as per Foss Patents, says, "Samsung anticipates that it will file, in the near future, a motion to amend its infringement contentions to add the iPhone 5 as an accused product. Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models. Samsung plans to file a motion to amend its infringement contentions to address the iPhone 5 as soon as it has had a reasonable opportunity to analyze the device. Because Samsung believes the accused functionality of the iPhone 5 will be similar to the accused functionality of other accused Apple products, Samsung does not believe that amendment of its infringement contentions should affect the case schedule."

On Thursday, Samsung said in a separate statement: "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."
Apple Korea reiterated its position that it was the victim of copying, not vice versa. "At Apple, we value originality and innovation... We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy."

This move is part of a larger patent war between Apple and Samsung, where both litigants stress that the other violates its patents. The biggest development in the battle was last month, when Apple won a lawsuit in the US, its home ground, and Samsung was ordered to pay it over $1 billion in damages. The jury also found that Apple did not infringe any of Samsung's asserted patents.

The iPhone maker then gave a list of 21 Samsung smartphones that it wants banned in the US, including the current flagship Galaxy S III, as well as Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Ace.

Samsung has appealed against the verdict to the court.

Samsung, the biggest Android phone maker, received a second US legal setback last week when a judge at the International Trade Commission said in a preliminary ruling that Apple did not violate patents owned by Samsung.

Apple's victory was also a blow to Google, whose Android software powers the Samsung products that were found to infringe Apple patents.