Apple seeks to block sales of Samsung's new Galaxy phone

Apple Inc. asked a federal judge in San Jose, California, to include Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S III smartphone in its request to block sales of Samsung products in the U.S.

Samsung released the Galaxy S III in the U.K. on May 29 and U.S. carriers have announced they will start selling the smartphone in the U.S. on June 21, Apple said in a court filing.

Apple has obtained the Galaxy S III in the U.K. and "determined that this device clearly infringes at least two of the Apple patents at issue" for "The exact same reasons" it infringes earlier versions of the smartphone, according to the June 5 filing by Cupertino, California-based Apple.

The filing was made in a companion suit related to Apple's first patent infringement case filed against Samsung in federal court in San Jose. In the primary case, Judge Lucy Koh last week denied Apple's renewed request for a ban on U.S. sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer while the case is still before a federal court of appeals.

"Samsung believes Apple's request is without merit," Samsung said in an e-mail. We would also like to assure consumers that the U.S. launch and sales of the Galaxy S III will proceed as planned."

Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, last month began marketing the Galaxy S III in London, with such features as voice-command options and an eye sensor that prevents the screen from dimming.

The Galaxy products helped Samsung regain the lead in the $219 billion smartphone market from Apple in the first quarter. Samsung has sold 24 million units of the first Galaxy S model since its debut in June 2010 and 28 million Galaxy S II phones in 13 months, Samsung said this month.

(Bloomberg)