Apple takes Samsung courtroom world tour to Japan

The Tokyo District Court has conducted its first hearing of Apple's Japanese case against Samsung.

Apple wants the court to suspend sales of Samsung's Galaxy S and Galaxy S II smartphones, as well as its Galaxy Tab tablet. According to Reuters, the hearing took place on Wednesday. Apple's action is a countersuit, as Samsung sued Apple in Japan in May.

The tussle is only one of many that are taking place between the two companies around the globe.

Apple started things off by suing Samsung in the US in April over the Korean manufacturer's alleged "slavish copying" of Apple's iPhone and iPad in its Android smartphones and tablets. Samsung countersued within weeks in the US, Japan, South Korea and Germany, alleging that Apple was violating Samsung's patents.

Since then, the two companies have locked horns in Germany — a separate case in Duesseldorf, with the original suit having been filed in Mannheim — Australia and the Netherlands. The UK has missed out thus far, although HTC, another maker of Android devices, has brought its own fight with Apple to London's High Court.

Apple has so far won temporary sales suspensions of Galaxy products in Germany and Australia. Samsung has not as yet won any bans on Apple devices.

The German ban hit Samsung's stands at IFA, Europe's biggest consumer technology show, which took place in Berlin a week ago.

Not only was Samsung unable to display its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, as a court in Duesseldorf had barred it from marketing the device for now, but a court order arriving at the stand on Saturday forced the company to also remove from view the Galaxy Tab 7.7, which it only unveiled at IFA two days before.