Samsung executives confirmed on Monday that the company plans to sue Apple for patent infringement after the new iPhone model is announced. The new model is expected to be unveiled at a media event this Wednesday, and Samsung is ready to take Apple to court over the iPhone's rumored LTE support.
Samsung says it's ready to sue over LTE features in the new iPhone
“It's true that Samsung Electronics has decided to take immediate legal action against the Cupertino-based Apple. Countries in Europe and even the United States — Apple's home-turf — are our primary targets,” a company executive told The Korea Times.
Samsung made the statement after South Korea's SK Telecom said that it struck a deal with Apple to carry what it called “the much speedier new iPhone” on its network.
Samsung has already said it would hit Apple with a patent infringement lawsuit if the company released any LTE-compatible devices. That hasn't yet happened, however, even though the third generation iPad shipped months ago with support for LTE wireless data networks in the United States and Canada.
So far Samsung hasn't had the best of luck in its legal fights with Apple. The electronics maker recently lost a case in the U.S. where a jury ruled it infringed on several Apple mobile device patents and hit the company with a fine topping US$1 billion. In that same trial, the jury ruled Apple wasn't infringing on Samsung's patents.
Apple has been collecting LTE-related patents over the past year, presumably to help protect from infringement lawsuits from companies like Samsung. So far, the company has 434 LTE patents under its control, and those could come into play if Samsung follows through with its lawsuit threat.