Apple loses bid to add Samsung S4 to patent lawsuit

Apple has lost its bid in a lawsuit to add Samsung’s recently launched Galaxy S4 smartphone to a list of products that the company alleges is infringing its patents, according to Bloomberg.

Samsung and Apple have been locking horns on patent disputes across 10 countries. As reported earlier, Apple has alleged that Samsung infringed on one of its patents for a text-selection feature in its smartphones and tabs. In another case, the iPhone maker has said that Samsung’s “Kies” software, which is installed in its Galaxy series, also infringed its patent, a claim that was later rejected by the Tokyo High court.

Apple loses bid to add Samsung Galaxy S4 to patent lawsuit

The current decision was passed by US Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal on Wednesday, as one half of another patent case, in San Jose, California. While ruling about this, Grewal said, “Adding another product to the case is a tax on the court’s resources.” Rationalising the decision, the Magistrate Judge said in the ruling, “Each time these parties appear in the courtroom, they consume considerable amounts of the court’s time and energy, which takes time way from other parties who also require and are entitled to the court’s attention.”

Another noteworthy case that took place earlier saw a jury awarding Apple $1.05 billion in damages while finding the South Korea-based Samsung to have infringed on six of the iPhone maker’s mobile-device patents. Following that decision, US District Judge Lucy Koh later reduced the damages to a total of $639.4 million, stating that she was correcting the earlier jury’s error. She did, however, order for a new damages trial to take place in November to further look at some of the products that are in dispute in that case.

Apple has now said that removing the Galaxy S4 will now require the company to file a fresh lawsuit against the South Korean company. According to Josh Krevitt, a lawyer for Apple, the Samsung products that are currently in dispute will be out of date by trial next year. Samsung could not be reached by Bloomberg for comment.