FOSS Patents were quick to spot the changes and noted:

The original complaint specifically accused the following products of infringement: “the Samsung Captivate, Continuum, Vibrant, Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Indulge, Mesmerize, Showcase, Fascinate, Nexus S, Gem, Transform, Intercept, and Acclaim smart phones and the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.”

The amended complaint accuses all of the above plus the Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II (aka Galaxy S 2). It also specifies the accusation against “Showcase” products, naming the Showcase i500 and Showcase Galaxy S.

It’s interesting to note that the amended filing uses aggressive language and alleges that Samsung “has been even bolder” with “products that blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple’s products to capitalize on Apple’s success”. Apple in its filing repeatedly mentions that when iPhone was introduced it offered unique features which no other company offered.

Prior mobile phones were often bulkier and contained physical keypads. Some had a rocker-style navigation button and sets of buttons for numbers and calling features. Others had a front panel with a partial or full QWERTY keyboard and a screen. None had the clean lines of the iPhone, which immediately caused it to stand apart from the competition.

Samsung has been equally aggressive in fighting back and the chief of mobile division at Samsung, J.K. Shin said:

We have used many similar designs over the past years and it [Apple’s allegation] will not be legally problematic.

This legal battle might just get bigger and we’ll just have to wait to see if the companies reach a settlement or continue to fight.

We recently reported that Samsung filed a notion requesting the court to ask Apple to show prototypes of iPhone 5 and iPad 3 as a part of the “discovery process”. Apple earlier this year filed a lawsuit against Samsung alleging that it had copied the look and feel of iPhone. During a recent interview with WSJ the chief of mobile division at Samsung, J.K. Shin said:

“We didn’t copy Apple’s design,” Mr. Shin said. “We have used many similar designs over the past years and it [Apple’s allegation] will not be legally problematic.” He suggested the scale of the lawsuit could grow, though he didn’t provide more details.

Even though Apple thinks Samsung has violated its “valuable intellectual property rights” the Korean giant feels that it won’t be a major cause of concern however, Mr. Shin did not comment on future implications.

The legal battle between Samsung and Apple continues to grow and doesn’t show signs of an early settlement. The legal spat is expected to continue for at least a few years until some substantial outcome can be seen. Such lawsuits are very common among big corporations and specially when it comes to technology companies where patent lawsuits are very common.

It will be interesting to see if Apple can indeed prove it in the courts that Samsung’s products are very similar to Apple’s design. The Cupertino based company basically feels that Samsung’s product could trick a customer to think that it was actually Apple’s new iPhone. When I visited a local mobile store recently to buy a protective screen cover for my Samsung phone the sales guy actually asked me if it was the iPhone 4. And obviously one can’t deny that Samsung’s UI and hardware design does look very similar to Apple’s design.

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.