Samsung drags iPhone 5 into never-ending legal battle

And so it goes on. Samsung is dragging the iPhone 5 into an existing patent lawsuit against Apple. No, not the one it lost $1 billion in recently, another one.

Reuters reports Samsung will add the smart phone to the list of Apple products it says are violating its patents. The company had made up its mind to do so before it'd even got the device in its hands apparently.

"Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models," the company confirmed to CNET. "Samsung plans to file a motion to amend its infringement contentions to address the iPhone 5 as soon as it has had a reasonable opportunity to analyse the device."

Apple shamed Samsung recently by trouncing it in a California courtroom, and lightened its wallet of $1 billion in the process. (And now it's asking for another $700 million, if you'd be so kind.) Every one of Samsung's counter claims were rejected. But the two companies have more lawsuits ongoing all around the world, so don't expect to see an end any time soon. Oh brother.

Apple will likely be looking to place injunctions on certain Samsung products as well, banning them from sale, and forcing its rival back to the drawing board. The bans could extend beyond the hardware in the case to those with similar software features, such as the 20 million-selling Galaxy S3.

It's all-out war between the two, so I suppose you can't blame Samsung. But really, I wish companies could get over this squabbling and concentrate on making decent products. You just have to look at the Apple Maps farrago to see where bearing grudges with rivals gets you. Use a tried and tested mapping service made by a rival? Forget it, we'll do our own. Who cares if it's nowhere near as good? Oh, everyone does.

What do you think of all this courtroom malarky? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.