Samsung on iPhone 4S in South Korea: Never Mind
“We concluded that we should engage in legal battles with Apple only in the global market, but not in order to gain more market share in Korea,” a Samsung executive told The Chosun Ilbo.
While Samsung may have decided against seeking an injunction in South Korea, that hasn’t stopped it from asking courts in Australia, Japan, France, and Italy from blocking iPhone sales. The court in Italy has already ruled against an injunction.
Apple and Samsung have been locked in a legal battle over patent infringement claims for several months. Both companies have alleged that the other’s mobile devices use patented technologies without proper licensing, and have filed lawsuits against each other in the U.S. and other countries.
A German court upheld an injunction blocking the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the country, and the company filed an appeal in hopes of overturning that ruling. Apple was also awarded a temporary injunction through a Dutch court blocking the sale of some Galaxy devices in the European Union, along with current temporary injunction blocking the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia.
Samsung has also managed to convince the court in Australia to give it access to parts of Apple’s contracts with cell service providers in the country. The judge, however, stopped short of giving Samsung access to the full contents of those contracts.
“As long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents,” the Samsung executive said in September. “We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights.”
That stance doesn’t, apparently, include trying to block iPhone 4S sales in South Korea.