The $US1.05 billion Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple has not ended the fight between the two companies. In fact, it might get even more complicated. According to the Korea Times, Samsung will sue Apple because the iPhone 5 infringes on LTE patents.
The news follows confirmation from Korean carrier SK Telecom that Apple’s new iPhone will indeed have LTE technology and arranged for it to be sold to customers in South Korea. According to one Samsung executive, 3G patents are considered to be standard and essential, but it’s a different story with LTE patents because they are “new and highly valued”.
Patently Apple points out that Samsung might not have much of a case. Apple has 434 of its own LTE patents, most of which came from Freescale and Nortel, which led the charge on developing LTE standards. At this point, neither Apple nor Samsung have spoken out publicly about the news of the latest suit, but we’ve reached out and will update when we have more info. [Korea Times via Patently Apple]