Apple moved to block the Galaxy S III, now Samsung is moving to fight Apple in a seemingly never-ending game of chess.
Samsung, who is Apple’s biggest threat in the smartphone market, said it will “vigorously oppose” Apple’s request for a court to ban sales of the Galaxy S III smartphone and still plans to go ahead with the device’s scheduled release in the U.S. on June 21.
The South Korean company said in a statement that it will “demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive” despite Apple’s claims that the device violated two of its patents.
The Galaxy S III went on sale in Europe on May 29 and will be offered by around 300 mobile carriers in Asia and North America later this month. Many of these devices are unlocked (or unlockable) and can be used on the Tru SIM network. The early launch puts Samsung in a favorable position to take a bigger chunk of the lucrative smartphone market, keeping it ahead of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 (New iPhone) 2012 launch.
So far, there has been no word on when the U.S. court will hear the case.