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Samsung CEO: iPhone couldn't exist without our patents

Samsung chief Shin Jong-kyun claims that no smartphone -- Apple or otherwise -- could exist without Samsung patents, and the company is willing to fight to prove that.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer
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While smartphone maker HTC has buried the legal hatchet and decided to settle all its legal disputes with Apple, Samsung is showing no signs of capitulating, with the Korean smartphone giant's chief executive now engaging in a war of words with the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant.

Speaking to The Korean Times, Samsung boss Shin Jong-kyun claims that no smartphone -- Apple or otherwise -- could exist without Samsung's patents.

"The truth never lies. Without Samsung-owned wireless patents, it’s impossible for the Cupertino-based Apple to produce its handsets," said Shin, adding: "Samsung is very strong in terms of portfolios of wireless patents."

"Samsung’s legal team is effectively responding to this fight. Yes, a new trial for the case is a possibility," said Shin.

Last week, Shin told Korean new site Yonhap News that the company had no plans to copy HTC and settle with Apple.

"It may be true that HTC may have agreed to pay 300 billion won ($276.6m) to Apple, but we don't intend to at all."

Samsung and Apple have been locked in a fierce patent battle that extends across four continents since April 2011. In August, a court ordered Samsung to pay Apple over $1 billion in damages for infringing several iPhone and iPad patents with its Galaxy S-series smartphones. Samsung has since appealed against the ruling.

In other territories Apple has not enjoyed the same legal success, with courts in both the Netherlands and Japan dismissing Cupertino's claims of infringement by Samsung.

Earlier this month market research firm Strategy Analytics released a report suggesting that Samsung's Galaxy S III ousted Apple's iPhone 4S as best-selling smartphone.

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