Samsung counter attacks with iPhone 4S sales ban request

Samsung is looking to ban sales of the iPhone 4S in Australia and Japan, in response to an Australian court granting Apple a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 last week.

Samsung issued a statement on Monday saying it has filed for a nationwide injunction in the Tokyo District Court and New South Wales Registry, which follow on from similar filings in French and Italian courts.

"Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology," the firm said. "We will no longer stand idly by and will steadfastly protect our intellectual property."

However, the Korean electronics giant is unlikely to succeed given that the patents in question are "essential to the 3G telecommunications standard", according intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller.

"A Dutch judge already made it clear Samsung can't seek an injunction based on such patents, and I'd be extremely surprised if an Australian judge took a different perspective on FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licensing commitments," he wrote in a blog post.

"The odds are very long against Samsung overcoming all of Apple's defences."

The situation is less clear in Japan, though, where Samsung is asserting three user interface-related patents that are unlikely to fall under FRAND, said Mueller.

"Those user interface patents are presumably not subject to FRAND licensing commitments, in which case Samsung would be allowed to seek injunctions based on them," he said.

While the filings show Samsung is willing to go on the offensive, things could get a lot worse down under for the Korean manufacturer and the entire Google Android ecosystem, argued Mueller.

The decision to grant Apple a preliminary injunction against sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 could be extended to other Samsung and Android products in the future, and possibly even made permanent, he said.

"In my view, Samsung and Google have to fight very hard to prevent this injunction from becoming permanent," argued Mueller.

"Assuming that the injunction does become permanent and all appeals fail, it will be GAME OVER DOWN UNDER for Android. In that scenario, Apple can easily shut down any Android-based multi-touch-capable product."

Samsung is struggling in its legal fights with Apple in numerous jurisdictions, having lost a preliminary injunction attempt against the iPhone in a Dutch court and a US judge ruling last week that the Galaxy Tab infringes Apple patents relating to the iPad.