Making good on its previous plans to target Apple's new iPhone in an attempt to ban sales of the device over intellectual property infringement, Samsung has announced that it will indeed file requests for preliminary injunctions today in France and Italy.
Samsung Electronics will file separate preliminary injunction motions in Paris, France and Milano, Italy on October 5 local time requesting the courts block the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the respective markets.
Samsung's preliminary injunction requests in France and Italy will each cite two patent infringements related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.
Samsung notes that it plans to file additional requests in other countries as it reviews the situation. Samsung's efforts are part of an escalating patent dispute between the two companies that has seen Apple win delays in the launch of Samsung's Galaxy Tab device in Australia and Germany.
Today's announcement from Samsung does not cite the specific patents it will accuse the iPhone 4S of infringing upon, but it is likely that they will be patents already being used by Samsung in a Dutch lawsuit against Apple seeking the ban of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, and original iPad.
Apple has argued that those patents are essential enough to the basic operation of 3G wireless technologies that they should be subject to FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms requiring Samsung to license them under reasonable terms. Apple's position is that Samsung has not been offering reasonable terms for the patents, and the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement on their licensing.
