Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/09/21/samsung_could_block_iphone_5_in_europe_patent_wars_rumble_on/

Samsung may try to block next iPhone in Europe too

Jesus mobe's fifth coming could see fanboi frustration

By Anna Leach

Posted in On-Prem, 21st September 2011 08:28 GMT

Samsung could try to get the iPhone 5 delayed or banned in Europe, a source has told South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper today. The Korean giant is considering a lawsuit against the next version of the Apple smartphone due in October, in the expectation that iPhone 5 will make use of some basic telecoms technology that Samsung has patented.

A patent suit could at least delay the launch of the phone until the case is resolved.

It comes a day after The Korea Times quoted an anonymous Samsung exec saying that the company would attempt to do the same thing in Korea.

According to Reuters, the MBN's source said that Samsung was considering further legal action against Apple and that the "South Korean firm may seek an injunction request on Apple's new iPhone in Europe."

Any legal success for Samsung would be a massive blow to Apple's signature product, whose eagerly awaited launch has been delayed already. And – of course – to UK iPhone lovers.

Samsung's hypothetical case would rest on basic telecoms patents that it holds, and its belief that the iPhone 5 will make use of some of these.

But the Korean giant won't know what's in the phone exactly until its release in October – so these murmured threats could be just hot air.

Still, anything is possible in the never-ending patent war between the two companies.

Since April this year, when Apple sued Samsung for "copying" the iPhone with its Galaxy range, the relationship between the two has soured drastically and they are locked in patent lawsuits all over the world. Samsung vowed a more aggressive legal approach after Apple managed to get the Samsung Galaxy Tab pulled from Germany. ®