Samsung Lawyers Ask Apple To Show iPhone 5 / 4S and iPad 3

Samsung Apple iPAd 3 iPhone 5

Samsung Apple iPAd 3 iPhone 5

Apple recently filed a lawsuit against Samsung for copying their products, user interface, packaging design and technology which are in “violation of Apple’s valuable intellectual property rights.”

Samsung isn’t the only company against which Apple has filed lawsuits, the Cupertino outfit is currently fighting in court against several other Android based handset manufacturers including HTC and Motorola.

We recently reported that a federal judge ordered Samsung to provide Apple with pre-production samples of a number of devices which are not yet available in the market and gave the company 30 days to comply with the order so that Apple Inc. may decide an injunction on the infringement.

Now, This Is My Next reports that Samsung has filed a notion asking Apple to hand over the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 prototypes to the company as a part of the “discovery process.”

It’s important to note that Apple requested for the products which had already been widely publicised as Samsung gave away 5,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1 to Google I/O attendees. However, Samsung’s request is based on a lot of assumptions as the company is assuming that iPhone 5 and iPad 3 could “possibly” be similar to Droid Charge and Galaxy Tab 10.1 which will hit the market around the same time as Apple’s next gen products.

This move if in Samsung’s favour would allow the company to “evaluate any possible similarities so they can prepare for further potential legal action from Apple.”

Samsung’s asking for a court order requiring Apple to produce “the final, commercial versions” of the next-generation iPhone and iPad and their respective packaging by June 13, 2011, so it can evaluate whether there’ll be confusion between Samsung and Apple’s future products. If the final versions aren’t available, Samsung wants “the most current version of each to be produced instead.”

Samsung says it has to see the next-gen iPhone and iPad because it believes those are the products that will actually be on the market against future Samsung devices, so it has to be prepared for Apple’s potential motion for a preliminary injunction. That’s kind of a stretch: Apple can’t really file for a preliminary injunction based on potential confusion with unannounced, unreleased products, so Apple’s lawyers will almost certainly focus on confusion with the company’s existing products.

Samsung has additionally promised to abide by the rules applicable to Apple and only the lawyers will have access to the prototype devices.

Apple has always been and continues to be very secretive about its future products and Samsung is clearly basing their assumptions on rumours which suggest that Apple is indeed working on next gen iPhone and iPad.

This is certainly turning out to be more interesting that we initially thought and it remains to be seen if the latest developments in this case lead to any possible out-of-court settlement or if Apple continues to aggressively fight it out in the court.

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