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Apple threatens ANOTHER Samsung patent lawsuit

Legal beagles miffed at judge's refusal to add Galaxy S 4 to ongoing suit

After a US judge refused Apple's request to add the Galaxy S 4 to the list of products for which Cupertino accuses Samsung of infringing upon its patents, Cook's crew is threatening to fire up yet another lawsuit against the Korean smartphone and tablet rival.

US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal turned down Apple's petition to add Samsung's "Next Big Thing" smartphone to the suit on Tuesday, saying that doing so would be a "tax on the court's resources," Bloomberg reports.

"Each time these parties appear in the courtroom," Grewal wrote in his ruling, "they consume considerable amounts of the court's time and energy, which takes time way from other parties who also require and are entitled to the court's attention."

The lawsuit that is consuming that considerable amount of energy, remember, is Apple's second lawsuit against Samsung, the first having been decided in Apple's favor last August to the tune of $1.05bn. That amount was preliminarily trimmed to $600m and referred to yet another trial, scheduled for this November, to determine a final damage award.

But yet another trial may be in the offing. An Apple attorney on the case, Josh Krevitt, told Grewal that if he refused to allow the Galaxy S 4 to be added to the ongoing litigation, doing so "would require Apple to file a new lawsuit," seeing as how the most recent Samsung product remaining in the suit, the Galaxy S III, would be out of date by the time the case appears before a judge next year.

Apple's legal team undoubtedly would prefer that any new lawsuit not be presided over by Judge Grewal – it's clear that he's had it up to here with the entire squabble. ®

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