A U.S. judge allowed Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to pursue claims the
iPhone 5 infringes its patents on Thursday, while also allowing Apple Inc
to add claims that the Samsung Galaxy Note, Galaxy S III and the Jelly
Bean operating system violate its patents.
The ruling by U.S.
Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal in San Jose, California, was the latest
development in a continuing legal war by Apple against manufacturers
like Samsung whose products use Google Inc's Android software.
Representatives for both Apple and Samsung declined comment.
The
case is one of two patent infringement lawsuits pending in the U.S.
District Court in San Jose by Apple against Samsung. An earlier lawsuit
by Apple that related to different patents resulted in a $1.05 billion
jury verdict against Samsung on August 24.
Apple filed the second
lawsuit in February, alleging that various Samsung smartphone and tablet
products including the Galaxy Nexus infringed eight of its patents.
Samsung denied infringement and filed a cross-complaint alleging that Apple's iPhone and iPad infringed eight of its patents.
U.S.
District Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction against
pretrial sales of the Nexus in June. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit overturned the sales ban on October 11.
Following
the debut of the iPhone on September 21, Samsung sought to add it as an
Apple product that infringed its patents. Apple moved likewise to add
the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Samsung Galaxy S III and the Jelly Bean
operating system in connection with the Galaxy Nexus.
In his
ruling Thursday, Grewal said Samsung acted with "reasonable diligence"
in asking the court to allow it to add the iPhone 5 to the case.
Apple
did not oppose adding the iPhone 5. Nevertheless, Grewal warned Apple to
"think twice before opposing similar amendments reflecting other newly
released products - e.g. the iPad 4 and iPad mini - that Samsung may
propose in the near future."
The case is Apple Inc v. Samsung
Electronics Co., Ltd., et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of
California, 12-cv-00630.
© Thomson Reuters 2012