Apple Sues Samsung in Japan

Apple has established yet another front in its patent battle with Samsung, this one in Japan. It has filed suit in a Tokyo District Court, seeking to ban sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S and S II smartphones, as well as the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet in Japan. The suit was filed in late August, Reuters reports, and it follows a template identical to those Apple’s brought against the company in an ever-widening global IP battle that now includes the United States, Australia and Korea, as well as Europe.

“It is no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” said Apple spokesman Steve Park. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Samsung, which has filed a few suits of its own against Apple, vowed to fight on.

“Samsung will actively defend our intellectual property rights in Japan in order to ensure consumers can continue to enjoy our innovative mobile devices without interruption,” the company said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue Apple for its ongoing violation of our wireless technology patents.”