Samsung is stepping up its legal efforts against Apple regarding patent disputes, reports the Associated Press, accusing Apple of “free riding” on Samsung’s innovations and intellectual property.
“We’ll be pursuing our rights for this in a more aggressive way from now on,” Samsung mobile communications marketing head Lee Younghee said during an interview. Younghee described Samsung’s previous approach on the matter as “passive,” which she claimed was out of respect to the relationship between Apple and Samsung.
It does seem a bit odd that Samsung is so worried about Apple “free riding” on Samsung’s product, especially considering Samsung’s seemingly blatant copying of Apple’s product designs with the Samsung Galaxy S, pictured above next to an iPhone 3GS, even down to the cable used to charge and sync their devices, pictured below next to an Apple iPhone sync cable.
The patents in question are wireless communications patents which, according to Apple (and many others) are so basic that they should fall under FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) conditions requiring Samsung to license them to competitors under fair and reasonable terms, which Apple claims that Samsung has not been offering.
