Samsung fights back against Apple with patent complaint in France

By Rue Liu/Sept. 12, 2011 4:16 pm EST

Samsung revealed today that it has filed a patent complaint against Apple in France. The two rival companies have been duking it out over smartphones and tablets, with Samsung suffering the most recently, having had to pull its Galaxy Tab 7.7 from IFA 2011 and having its Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned in Germany.

This filing in France was filed in a Paris district court back in July with the first hearing expected in December. It's not clear why Samsung decided to announce it today, but given their bruised egos from last week's official ban in Germany, it makes sense to emphasize now that the fight is not over.

Like the case in Germany that Apple won, this new complaint is focused on the technology patents, and not on the design of the tablets. The three patents involved concern Samsung's UMTS 3G mobile phone technologies, targeting the iPhone 3G/3GS, the iPhone 4, and the first-generation 3G iPads.

[via AFP]