Multiple regions across the globe, including the UK, have had the pleasure of being able to pick up Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S3 since its official launch at the end of last month. Sales figures are already reflecting the impact the Galaxy S3 has had in these markets, but there’s still one huge territory in which Samsung’s golden phone hasn’t yet arrived, the US.
Pre-orders for the US variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3 are already in effect with the country’s leading carriers (Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T) all offering different arrival dates, AT&T having most recently quoted an availability date of June 18th. As with over here, US customers are no doubt itching to get their hands on Samsung’s latest superphone, but one thing could stand in their way, Apple.
Yes, the Cupertino-based company is up to its old tricks again and by that we mean, the ongoing patent war which has been waging between both Apple and Samsung over the past year now, sees little sign of ceasing, despite attempted intervention by the courts in recent months.
Apple have filed a number of US patent infringement claims with regards to the Samsung Galaxy S3. As outlined by the BBC, the claims come after Apple spent time inspecting a UK Galaxy S3 following launch. The two main claims specifically refer to a unified search interface and pattern identification amidst mobile data. Apple attempted to have the Samsung Galaxy Nexus scrutinised in much the same way, but at the time, this came to nothing.
One of Apple’s primary lawyers, Mark Lyon states, “The Galaxy S3 will… irreparably harm Apple for the same reasons as the Galaxy Nexus, but on a much greater scale. The central premise of Samsung’s opposition to Apple’s motion for a preliminary injunction was that the Galaxy Nexus had not sold sufficiently well to cause severe enough harm to Apple. While that argument is legally and factually untenable, it is entirely inapplicable with respect to the Galaxy S3, which reportedly will sell phenomenally well immediately upon launch.“
Although this may throw a major spanner in the works if Apple get their way, Samsung US are assuring customers that the Galaxy S3 will arrive on time and remain on sale. AT&T price the S3 at $549.99 off contract or £199.99 on a 2-year tariff. Here’s hoping it stays that way, otherwise Samsung will have a lot of angry fans to deal with and in turn Apple will have a very angry Samsung to deal with.
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