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Samsung tries to ban iPhone 4S sales in Italy, France

Samsung has filed for injunctions against the sale of Apple's new iPhone 4S in France and Italy, in the latest round of an extensive, patent-related conflict between the two companies.French and Italian courts allow people to seek sales bans on products that have not even launched yet — the iPhone 4S will only appear in-store on 14 October — and Samsung said on Tuesday that it would file for the injunctions on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Written by David Meyer, Contributor

Samsung has filed for injunctions against the sale of Apple's new iPhone 4S in France and Italy, in the latest round of an extensive, patent-related conflict between the two companies.

French and Italian courts allow people to seek sales bans on products that have not even launched yet — the iPhone 4S will only appear in-store on 14 October — and Samsung said on Tuesday that it would file for the injunctions on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

"Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free-ride on our technology," Reuters quoted Samsung as saying. "We will steadfastly protect our intellectual property."

Each of the injunction requests will cite two Samsung patents that Apple has supposedly violated in the iPhone 4S. The cases add to Samsung's lawsuits against Apple in the Netherlands, Apple's UK suit against Samsung, and the roughly 20 other lawsuits going on between the two handset-makers around the world.

Apple started off the war in April by suing Samsung in the US over its "blatant copying" of iPhone and iPad technologies and designs in Samsung's Android range. Samsung soon countersued, and actions between the two companies are now underway in the US, UK, France, Italy, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany and the Netherlands.

So far, Apple has succeeded in getting a German court to ban some Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets in that country. Samsung has also agreed not to sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia while legal proceeding are ongoing, and settlement talks there broke down earlier this week.

Late in September, the US operators Verizon and T-Mobile also got involved, arguing that it was unfair of Apple to try to stop them from selling Samsung's products, particularly just ahead of the lucrative holiday season.

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