Samsung Fires Back At Apple With ITC Complaint

Samsung accused Apple of violating five patents in its ITC complaint and took the drastic step of requesting the agency ban Apple from selling iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches in the U.S. The ITC complaint is the latest counter-attack from Samsung, which was hit by Apple with a patent infringement lawsuit last April. Apple's lawsuit claimed that Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets are copies of the popular iPhone and iPad. The lawsuit accused Samsung of infringing on several Apple patents and trademarks and accused Samsung of engaging in unfair competition.

However, Samsung filed a countersuit in Seoul, Korea, accusing Apple of patent infringement, which of course led to Apple filing a lawsuit of its own in Korea, which cited the same patent infringement claims as Apple's first lawsuit against Samsung. To date, Samsung has filed countersuits in six different countries, including the U.S. and Korea.

The volleying of legal complaints spelled doom for Apple's partnership with Samsung; Apple had used Samsung's chip manufacturing business to build the A4 and A5 processors for the iPad and iPad 2, respectively. But a report this week from Ars Technica claimed that Apple will drop Samsung as its chip fabrication partner and move production of the forthcoming A6 processor to a new manufacturer (most likely Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).

While the Samsung Galaxy Tab has lagged behind Apple's iPad in terms of sales and popularity, Samsung's device has emerged as one of the few viable challengers to the iPad in the tablet market. With the ITC complaint and increasing competition in the tablet space, it's clear the feud between Apple and Samsung won't be ending any time soon.