Samsung Electronics has filed yet another lawsuit against arch-rival Apple, this time in Seoul's Central District Court, claiming the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 infringe three of its patents.

"This lawsuit is separate from the proceedings filed against Apple in Seoul in April 2011 regarding infringement of telecommunications standards-related patents," the company said in an emailed statement. "Samsung will continue to assert its intellectual property rights and defend its investment in innovation in order to ensure our continued growth in the mobile industry."

It's hard to believe that the timing of the suit is a coincidence given the huge rumour mill surrounding the expected-but-still-unconfirmed launch of the iPad 3 this evening, which fanbois have been anticipating for some time now.

The new lawsuit, which was filed in South Korea on Tuesday, covers three utility patents that concern methods of displaying data, the user interface and short text messages, Reuters reported.

Samsung and Apple are involved in a planet-spanning battle over patents for their mobes and fondleslabs in which both sides have had minor wins and losses, but no clear winner has yet emerged.

While the Samsung war is the largest for Apple, the iPad maker is also pursuing skirmishes with other Android-using smartphone-makers including Motorola and HTC. ®