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Samsung to fight Apple's border block on Galaxy S III sales

Samsung is gearing up for the U.S. launch of its Galaxy S III smartphone, but not if Apple can do something about it first.
Written by Zack Whittaker, Contributor

Amid the ongoing "he said, she said" case of Apple vs. Samsung, the upcoming release of the Galaxy S III later this month could be stalled by a border block, thanks to Apple's lawyers.

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Late Tuesday, Apple filed a motion in a San Jose district court requesting a preliminary ban on the long-awaited smartphone, claiming it infringes two patents relating to Siri (Samsung has its own "S-Voice" feature which may be the kicker here,) and another relating to data tapping, notes AllThingsD.

Apple picked up the device in the U.K. earlier this month when the Samsung smartphone went on sale in Europe.

Piggybacking off its existing complaint regarding Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, Apple believes the forthcoming device "falls within the scope of Apple’s current proposed order submitted in connection with its motion for a preliminary injunction," according to the filing.

Samsung said it would fight the move that would see the smartphone blocked at the border, claiming it will "demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive," the Associated Press reports.

The Korea-based technology giant said it plans to go ahead with the device's scheduled release in the U.S. on June 21.

If it does get blocked and Apple prevails, it would strike a damaging blow to Samsung's bid to get ahead of the iPhone 5 race --- set to be released later this year.

Dubbed as the next BYOD buddy, the Samsung Galaxy S III is geared towards those bringing devices from home into the workplace. It is set to hit the U.S. networks hard, releasing on all five major networks --- Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular --- around the same time.

ZDNet's Andrew Nusca has more, and CNET's Jessica Dolcourt has a hands-on review of the device.

Image credit: Samsung.

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