Samsung pushing for Australia iPhone injunction in March
“The case will be fixed for a hearing for three weeks, commencing in March, 2012, with the date to be fixed on Friday,” said Judge Annabelle Bennett, according to Reuters. She isn’t imposing any restrictions on iPhone 4S sales ahead of the hearing.
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.
Despite its efforts to block iPhone 4S sales in Australia, Japan, France, and Italy, Samsung isn’t seeking an injunction at home in South Korea. “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 said.
Apple has not commented on Samsung’s legal actions in Australia.