When Apple announced it was going to sue Samsung for patent and trademark infringement over its Galaxy lineup of tablets and phones, the tech industry took notice. The reasons for paying attention to this one go far beyond the financial ramifications, Samsung you see is one of Apple’s biggest component suppliers, manufacturing everything from screen to chips which go into the companies growing portfolio of gadgets. Some journalists speculated the lawsuit was just for show, and would settle quickly with a series cross licensing agreements, a trend that is common in the tech sector. This was a sound theory, however a counter-suit filed by Samsung on Friday suggests both companies might be in this for the long haul, and business relations could be in jeopardy as a result. According to the court filings, Samsung claims that both the iPhone and iPad infringe on 10 of their mobile technology patents, and called for immediate action, along with compensation for damages. The patents in question involve methods for reducing power consumption during data transmission, along with various 3G technologies for reducing errors during transmission.
"Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business," the statement said.
Countersuits are fairly common in this type of a scenario, and while Samsung may just be using it to pressure Apple into settling the dispute, this very public battle might well have Apple looking for an alternate supplier by the time it’s all over.
