Apple pursues US Samsung sales ban and $707m more in damages

Apple has applied for a permanent US sales ban on the Samsung products alleged to have violated its patents.

The consumer electronics giant is also demanding additional damages of $707 million on top of the billion-dollar verdict won by the iPhone maker last month.

Samsung has responded by asking for a new trial.

It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners.

The world's top two smartphone makers are locked in patent battles in 10 countries as they vie for top spot in the lucrative, fast-growing market.

Apple scored a legal victory over Samsung in late August when a US jury found the Korean firm had copied critical features of the iPhone and awarded the US firm $1.05 billion in damages.

In a motion filed late Friday US time, Apple sought a further $400 million damage award for design infringement by Samsung; $135 million for willful infringement of its utility patents; $121 million in supplemental damages based on Samsung's product sales not covered in the jury's deliberation; and $50 million of prejudgment interest on damages through December 31. The requests together come to $707 million.

Apple wants the injunction to cover "any of the infringing products or any other product with a feature or features not more than colorably different from any of the infringing feature or features in any of the Infringing Products."

Such a wide-ranging sales ban could result in the extension of the injunction to cover Samsung's brand-new Galaxy S3 smartphone.

Samsung, in a filing to the US court, asked for a new trial to be held.

"The Court's constraints on trial time, witnesses and exhibits were unprecedented for a patent case of this complexity and magnitude, and prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case in response to Apple's many claims," Samsung said.

"Samsung therefore respectfully requests that the Court grant a new trial enabling adequate time and even-handed treatment of the parties."

In a separate statement, Samsung lamented the fact that patent rulings should cover issues such as the shape of the product in addition to technological points.

"It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies," it said.

The Korean firm recently said it plans to add Apple's new iPhone 5 to the existing US patent lawsuits, stepping up its legal challenge as the two companies seek to assert rights to key technologies.