You can almost hear the lawyers salivating. Samsung Electronics said on Monday that it will sue Apple over the release of the iPhone 5 for infringing on its 4G LTE connectivity patents.
“It’s true that Samsung Electronics has decided to take immediate legal action against the Cupertino-based Apple. Countries in Europe and even the United States ― Apple’s home-turf ― are our primary targets,’’ said a senior Samsung who is directly involved with the matter, in a telephone interview with The Korea Times.
The Korean company’s decision came immediately after SK Telecom “confirmed” on Monday that Apple’s new handset will feature 4G LTE. SK said that it has reached a deal to release the LTE-enabled iPhone.
“Talks with Apple ended with a good result. We are happy to offer the much speedier new iPhone to our customers,’’ said an SK Telecom official, though a spokesman for the company declined to confirm the news, citing the issue’s sensitivity.
A Samsung executive said that while Apple claimed the existing 3G patents are standard essential patents (SEPs) according to Samsung’s commitment to FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms, but remarked it was a different story when the conversation is about LTE patents, saying “These are new and highly-valued.”
In a similar issue, Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC won a court battle over LTE, raising the possibility Samsung could be victorious suing Apple over LTE patents.
