Samsung to File Multiple Suits to Block iPhone 4S

Samsung will file patent infringement suits to block the release of iPhone 4S which rival smartphone maker Apple unveiled Tuesday at its headquarters. The suits will be filed in unspecified markets that will not include S. Korea, according to Samsung’s announcement.

“We cannot specify the names of the countries and which courts we plan to file injunctions against Apple, as we haven’t found out where the new iPhone will be launched first and which model it will be,” said a Samsung spokesman. “But our basic stance is to file for injunctions to block sales of the new iPhone.”

The suits are retaliation in kind to the patent suits Apple has filed against Samsung in various European markets, the spokesman added. These suits have resulted in injunctions preventing the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy phones and tablets in various European markets.

The suits will be based in part on a Sept. 26 admission by Apple in a Dutch court that it had used patented Samsung technology because it is not possible to make a mobile device without using the technology.

Samsung contends that even the current iPhone 4 infringes its patent, therefore, it is likely that the new iPhone will do the same though it had not been able to examine a unit at the time of the announcement. It plans to have experts examine one Wednesday and seek injunctions later in the week. Perhaps to delay Samsung action, Apple strictly limited its Tuesday press conference to U.S. media.

Samsung has no plans to sue Apple over the new iPhone in Korea on fears that could damage its own reputation in the Korean market, according to Chosun Daily.