Samsung claims eight more patent infringements by Apple
Despite talk of a potential out-of-court settlement, Samsung has filed eight more patent infringement claims against the iPhone maker.
Samsung continues to ramp up its patent battle against Apple.
The Korean mobile phone maker yesterday filed its own counterclaim to a prior Apple patent lawsuit, alleging that the iPhone maker has infringed on eight Samsung patents.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California, Samsung's action was taken in response to a suit brought by Apple in February calling for a ban on U.S. sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone.
As described by Florian Mueller at Foss Patents, two of the patents are "FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory)-pledged" that Samsung maintains are essential to industry standards. Five of the patents were originally applied for by Samsung, while the other three were bought from Hitachi and other sources.
Mueller isn't exactly surprised that Samsung retaliated this way to Apple's February suit, explaining that the company keeps battling even though its patent claims against Apple haven't been successful.
But what is surprising is that Samsung is pushing the envelope in the midst of an ongoing antitrust probe by the European Union, which is investigating whether Samsung is abusing its patent power and not honoring its promise to abide by FRAND terms.
Samsung's action also comes amidst reports that it may be trying to make peace with Apple through an out-of-court settlement. If true, then Samsung's new claims will seemingly make such a settlement more difficult to achieve.