Apple has sued Samsung to block sales of the company's highly anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone in the United States.

The Cupertino tech giant is looking to receive an injunction on the grounds that the Galaxy S III (pictured above) infringes on at least two Apple patents.

According the complaint, which was filed in a California court earlier this week and posted online by patent law blogger Florian Muller, the Galaxy S III clearly infringes on data-tapping and unified search technologies owned by Apple.

Apple's complaint claims "it is clear that infringement can be shown with respect to these patents based on the current record."

Samsung, unsurprisingly, is having none of that.

“Samsung believes Apple’s request is without merit," a Samsung spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times in a statement. "We will vigorously oppose the request and demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive."

Apple's move to block sales of the Galaxy S III in the United States is just latest in a long line of patent disputes between the two companies. Last month, Apple filed a motion against Samsung over its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. The two hardware manufacturers have had several other beefs as well.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S III at the beginning of May during an event in London. Perhaps the most anticipated Android handset this year, it's the third generation of Samsung's popular line of Galaxy smarthphones.

The S III runs on Android's latest Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and features a 4.8-inch touch screen, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera.

Apple's Galaxy S III complaint cites press reports saying Samsung has already sold more than nine million preorders of the device — meaning it could cause "irreparable harm" to Apple.

Do you think Apple has any ground to stand on here, or is this a frivolous complaint? Weigh in below.