Samsung Electronics Co said on Friday it had filed patent lawsuits against Apple in South Korea, Japan and Germany, a week after the world's top technology company claimed Samsung's smartphones and tablets slavishly copied its products.

The South Korean firm said in a statement the suit involved up to five infringements of patents but did not elaborate on the technologies involved.

Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business, the statement said.

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

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