Samsung products to be sent to Apple after patent ruling

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it will send product samples to Apple’s legal team within 30 days after a U.S. court gave the order in a ruling over a patent dispute last week.

“We don’t find it difficult to send the samples within the 30-day period since it is not the first time the products are being revealed,” said a Samsung official. “We’re also likely to request samples from Apple since the procedure is considered to be a common practice in such legal disputes.”

Samsung also filed countersuits against Apple Inc. over patent rights last month, including alleged infringement of five patents which focused on communication technologies, in courts in Korea, Japan and Germany.

The Seoul-based electronics giant was ordered by San Jose Federal Court judge Lucy Koh to offer Apple’s legal team with advanced delivery of product samples and packaging of Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G and the 4G LTE Droid Charge.

Apple reportedly claims that its rival Samsung, which is also the U.S.-based firm’s component supplier, “designed products confusingly similar to Apple’s iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, and that the products use icons similar to those used by Apple.”

“Apple has produced images of Samsung products and other evidence that provide a reasonable basis for Apple’s belief that Samsung’s new products are designed to mimic Apple’s products,” the court acknowledged.

The samples, however, will be unveiled limitedly to only the outside counsel, indicating that Apple’s engineering staff and in-house legal team are allowed no access to them.

After securing the material, Apple’s legal team will determine whether to file for an injunction blocking the sale of Samsung products.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)