Apple Wants to Add Samsung Galaxy S4 to California Patent Lawsuit

Although the next trial is not scheduled until Spring 2014, Apple is already preparing for it and has revealed that it plans to add the recently released Samsung Galaxy S4 to its list of 22 products it believes infringe iOS user interface patents, Florian Müller of Foss Patents reports.

But instead of dropping products, the parties — and in this case, Apple – have added further products to the already long list. However, considering that the Galaxy S4 is the high-end smartphone of Apple’s rival, the Cupertino company’s move was pretty foreseeable.

The filings reveal a major new disagreement: Apple has analyzed the Galaxy S4, Samsung’s new top-selling product, and “has concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product”. Apple’s current list of 22 accused products does not include the S4, but a footnote contains the statement from which I just quoted. Apple says it will drop another product from its list of 22 accused products once it has permission to add the S4 to this litigation.

Another disagreement between the parties is over what constitutes a single product, as Samsung says it heavily customizes software to carrier specifications, and differentiates the products per carrier, as the same item is sold as different products through different carriers.

Samsung on the other hand has its own list of infringing Apple products, starting with the iPhone and continuing through the iPod, iPad, Mac and Apple TV lines, but the South Korean company has so far refrained from submitting its statement.

By February 6, 2014, the two parties will have to limit their asserted patent claims to five per side and cut the list of 22 named products down to ten per side.