Samsung will be 'more aggressive' in its patent battle with Apple

KOREAN ELECTRONICS FIRM Samsung has revealed that it plans to become "more aggressive" in its legal battle with rival Apple.

Apple sued Samsung in April, claiming it "slavishly" copied the designs for its Iphone and Ipad ranges. A number of subsequent lawsuits and complaints with trade organisations led to Samsung's Galaxy Tab being delayed in Australia and banned in Germany.

"We'll be pursuing our rights for this in a more aggressive way from now on," said Lee Younghee, head of global marketing for mobile communications at Samsung, in an interview with the Associated Press.

It is not exactly clear in what way Samsung will become more aggressive in these legal disputes, but likely it will involve a slew of new lawsuits, competition probes, and a stronger overall campaign to protect its product range, which has come under serious fire from Apple.

Younghee added that Apple was "free-riding" on Samsung's wireless communication technologies, suggested that it will launch another series of patent lawsuits against the company.

Of course, Samsung has engaged Apple head on pretty much from the start of the disputes. Within a week of Apple's initial lawsuit it countersued Apple over 10 patents, and the companies have been tit-for-tat suing each other ever since. Adding more lawsuits to the mix might not resolve things any faster, but a win in one region for Samsung could secure it a deal with Apple in another.

However, it's clear that so far Apple has been winning its cases, particularly in terms of the European market. Samsung will be aware of how this looks to the general public, so the intimation is that it has not been firing its heavy artillery so far, but will do so in the future.