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Apple adds Galaxy S 4 to Samsung patent suit

Might as well kick Korean mobe-maker where it'll hurt most

Apple has ratcheted-up its patent-infringment attack on Samsung, asking the US District Court of California to add Sammy's new smartphone flagship, the Galaxy S 4, to the list of products that Apple alleges violate its patents.

That handset was launched with hella hoopla this March (and reviewed by The Reg this Monday), and is the subject of an advertising blitz by the Korean electronics giant in an effort to knock the iPhone down a peg. Or two.

If you're having trouble following the myriad machinations in the Samsung-Apple patent war, you're not alone. Here's a brief overview – a full recounting would require many pages, and you do have more important things to do than read a rehash of the entire sordid story, eh?

Last August, a jury trial awarded Apple $1.05bn in damages, a figure that Apple asked to be tripled but was refused by the same judge who later trimmed those damages to under $600m.

In that case, Samsung had asked for a new trial, claiming that the foreman of the jury was tainted by desire for revenge against the Korean mobe-maker. The judge didn't buy that argument, but did hand Samsung a victory by denying Apple's request to ban the sale of some Samsung kit in the US.

That case is still under appeal, but it's a separate case from the one to which Apple has petitioned the court to add the Galaxy S 4.

The Galaxy S 4 is being added to Apple's second patent suit against Samsung – the one to which Cupertino added the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note last September, and which is scheduled to go to trial next Spring, after the appeals process for that first trial has been completed.

The judge in the second case – in which Samsung has countersued – told both parties to narrow the number of devices named in their complaints. Accordingly, in Apple's motion to add the Galaxy S 4 to the suit, their legal team wrote, "Upon the grant of such motion, Apple will eliminate (without prejudice) one of the Accused Products named herein, so that it will continue to accuse only 22 products of infringement at this stage of the litigation."

Even Apple, it appears, can sense when it's trying the patience of the court. ®

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