Apple asks court to add new Samsung products to patent suit

IDG News Service - Apple is seeking to add six Samsung products in a patent infringement lawsuit between the electronic giants scheduled to start in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in March 2014.

The motion, filed Friday, asked the court to add Samsung's Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 Wi-Fi, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, the Galaxy Rugby Pro -- all of which have been released in the last two months -- as well as the Galaxy S III Mini, which is due to be released soon in the U.S.

"In short, Apple has acted quickly and diligently to determine that these newly-released products do infringe many of the same claims already asserted by Apple and in the same way that the already accused devices infringe," the motion said.

Apple filed the suit against Samsung on Feb. 8. Samsung responded by filing a counterclaim in the same court, alleging that Apple violates feature patents and two UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) patents.

Last week, the South Korean company filed a motion to add the iPad mini, the fourth-generation iPad, and the latest version of the iPod touch to its cross-complaint. The iPhone 5 has already been added to the counter claim.

On Aug. 24, a jury in the Northern California court found that Samsung infringed on Apple patents including those that covered multitouch software, hardware designs and application icon designs, awarding Apple over US$1 billion in damages.

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