Apple, Samsung Court Hearing on IPhone 4S to Resume
A Milan court hearing on Samsung Electronics Co.’s request to block Apple Inc.’s new smartphone on patent infringement claims was adjourned to Dec. 16 by Judge Marina Tavassi, according to lawyers at the hearing.
Samsung is seeking to ban sales of Apple’s latest handset, the iPhone 4S, in Italy and France, saying the product infringed the Suwon, South Korea-based company’s patents related to wireless communications technology.
Adriano Vanzetti, a lawyer for Samsung, requested time to examine and respond to the “voluminous documentation” presented by Apple today, Vanzetti and Apple lawyer Giuseppe Sena said after the hearing. Cupertino, California-based Apple will then have time to respond to Samsung’s filing. No decision was taken today, the lawyers said.
The iPhone 4S is set to go on sale in Italy on Oct. 28, Vodafone Group Plc’s Italian unit said in an Oct. 24 statement.
The injunction requests escalate the dispute between the world’s two biggest makers of smartphones and tablets. The iPhone 4S was unveiled earlier this month and is equipped with a faster processor, a higher-resolution camera and a new software interface to help it vie with Google Inc.’s Android, which powers Samsung’s Galaxy phone and tablets.
Samsung’s court bid to halt sales of the iPhone 4S in France was delayed to Nov. 15 in Paris after a judge requested more documents.