Galaxy S4

Galaxy S4 now at the center of latest Apple, Samsung legal battle

The ongoing legal showdown between Apple and Samsung enters a new phase. 

The latest front involves the Samsung Galaxy S4, the successor to the extremely popular Samsung Galaxy S3. In papers filed this week in US District Court in California, Apple claims that the S4 violates five Apple trademarks, including one involving the Siri voice-powered personal assistant, another involving a data retrieval system, and a third revolving around "asynchronous data synchronization amongst devices." 

"Apple obtained the Galaxy S4 on April 27 and immediately began its infringement analysis, including Samsungs customizations of the Android Jelly Bean platform, covering the eight asserted patents," Apple wrote in the filing (hat tip to IDG). "That analysis revealed that the Galaxy S4 infringes five of Apples asserted patents in the same ways as Samsung's already accused products." 

A hearing has been scheduled for June 25, in a San Jose court; reps for both Samsung and Apple will most likely be present. Still, don't expect this thing to wrap quickly. Apple and Samsung have flung lawsuits and patent infringement accusations back and forth with so much alacrity over the past few years that the legal battle has its own long, extremely comprehensive Wikipedia entry. 

Many of the legal showdowns, especially in the US, have lasted years. So get comfortable! 

In related news, a new study shows that Samsung and Google are gaining pretty rapidly on Apple in terms of brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. Apple remains atop Millward Brown Optimor's annual BrandZ list, but as the LA Times notes, Samsung climbed 25 spots on the listing between 2012 and 2013.