Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, speaks about the iPhone 4S at Apple headquarters in Cupertino
Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, speaks about iPhones, including the iPhone 4S, at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California October 4, 2011. REUTERS

A patent war between Samsung Electronics and Apple continues to heat up, as the South Korean Galaxy smartphone maker on Wednesday said it will be filing infringement claims in France and Italy in order to ban the sale of the iPhone 4S.

Samsung also intends to prevent the sale of Apple's latest smartphone in other countries after further review.

Samsung has said it intends to file preliminary injunction requests for banning the iPhone 4S sales on Wednesday. Each case will contain two patent infringements related to its wireless technology, Reuters reported.

Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free-ride on our technology, Samsung said in a statement reported by Reuters. We will steadfastly protect our intellectual property.

Samsung is Apple's closest rival in the smartphone market. The two companies have been battling it out in courtrooms worldwide since April, when the iPhone maker accused the Galaxy pro of copying some key designs in its popular smartphone.

The lawsuits between the companies span about 10 different countries and involve about 20 cases, according to Reuters.

That Samsung is trying to get the upper hand in these lawsuits comes just one day after unveiled its new device after months of media frenzy and hype regarding the next-generation iPhone launch that took place on Tuesday. Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S during a Let's Talk iPhone event at its campus in Cupertino, Calif.

A Samsung spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that the company chose to file the suit in France and Italy because they are key markets over in Europe.

Samsung spokesman James Chung told Reuters the same day that French and Italian laws allow for companies to seek -? and courts can order -? a ban on the sale of a product even before it hits the market.

Back in September, Samsung accused Apple of patent infringement in Australia. The South Korean company is also appealing a German court's ruling to ban the sale of its Galaxy Tab in Germany.

Courts in Germany have temporarily stopped the sales of Samsung smartphones and tablets depending on the hearings on patent-infringement claims.

The courts in Australia and the U.S. are expected to decide sometime next week, according to reports.

Samsung has a proud history of innovation in the mobile industry, the company told Bloomberg back then. It has invested continuously in R&D, design and technology to produce our innovative and cutting-edge mobile devices.

But Apple's story is much different.

The Cupertino-based company has accused Samsung of slavishly copying the iPad and iPhone.

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