Just when you thought the whole "let's take each other to court" thing was fading out in the tech world, Samsung confirmed that it plans to sue Apple over eight patents relating to its implementation of LTE tech in the iPhone. Ugh.


Unearthed by Foss Patents, the relevant passage from a case management filing in which Samsung divulges this info is as follows:

"Samsung anticipates that it will file, in the near future, a motion to amend its infringement contentions to add the iPhone 5 as an accused product. On September 12, 2012, Apple announced that it will release the iPhone 5 on September 21, 2012. 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. 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 analyze the device. Because Samsung believes the accused functionality of the iPhone 5 will be similar to the accused functionality of other accused Apple products, Samsung does not believe that amendment of its infringement contentions should affect the case schedule."


While it's possible that this will never go to court (and hopefully we're spared that spectacle again), it is a possibility for Samsung to request a temporary injunction against the iPhone 5, which would mean that it would be off store shelves until some sort of agreement is reached. Given the popularity of the iPhone in the US, such an outcome could be catastrophic from Apple. But that's still just a faint possibility given the fact that Samsung still needs to file a formal complaint.