Samsung Seeking iPhone 4S Ban in Korea

Samsung Electronics now wants to file a motion to ban Apple's iPhone 4S in Korea. Earlier, Samsung had filed suits against Apple in Japan, Australia, France and Italy to stop sales of the new iPhone.

We are looking into filing a motion in a Korean court to ban the sale of the iPhone 4S in Korea, Shin Jong-kyun, Samsung Electronics' Mobile Communications Business Chief, told reporters in Hong Kong Wednesday.

Samsung has already filed motions in France and Italy, citing two patent infringements on wireless telecommunications technology, aiming to prevent the sale of the iPhone 4S.

Apple and Samsung are quickly becoming each other's fiercest rivals in the smartphone business. The increasing demand and prospects of the Samsung-made devices have led Apple to resort to suing Samsung and seeking to stop sales worldwide. Samsung has responded by seeking a ban on the sales of Apple's iPhone 4S, charging that the iPhones and the iPad 2 have violated the multiple wireless technology patents it holds.

All of which means that the two companies are fighting a wide-ranging patent battle across four continents.

Apple, earlier, won a preliminary sales injunction against Samsung in Australia, to block the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from hitting stores. The injunction, filed in August, claimed that the Tab 10.1 violated 10 Apple-held patents. Samsung tried to prove that the devices were different but the judge ruled otherwise. The case will now go to trial.