Apple lodges more lawsuits against Samsung in Germany

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Apple has brought two new lawsuits against Samsung in Germany, as the two continue to do patent battle in Europe.

One lawsuit claims 10 Samsung phones infringe Apple intellectual property, whilst the other alleges five tablets do the same, according to Bloomberg.

Apple has had some success in its patent war with Samsung in Germany. In September, the Dusseldorf Regional Court upheld a ban on the Galaxy Tab. Samsung responded by simply changing its product so it didn't infringe Apple patents and renamed the tablet.

I believe it will be much harder for the two litigants to settle their disagreements over product design than the ones over technical inventions.

IP expert Florian Mueller discovered which design patents Apple was asserting in the smartphone lawsuit, revealing two design rights were being brought to court.

"Both were filed in the names of about a dozen inventors including (in both cases) Steve Jobs and Jony Ive," Mueller said in a blog post.

"I believe it will be much harder for the two litigants to settle their disagreements over product design than the ones over technical inventions… For those design rights issues, it may not be possible to structure a mutually acceptable settlement. The two companies may just need the courts to clarify the boundaries of Apple's exclusive design-related rights."

Samsung has attempted to stop Apple selling products across the world, recently trying to get the iPhone 4S banned in France and Italy.

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