Apple is not pulling any punches with its latest patent attack on Samsung, seeking a ban on the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US.
This latest move is being seen as a clear attack on Android as a whole, given that the Galaxy Nexus is the flagship Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) device and covers a number of features present in the Galaxy Nexus software.
Patent expert Florian Mueller describes the four patents that Apple is basing its case on as "the patent equivalent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" because they all relate to patents Apple has recently been awarded or disputes that Apple has recently won against other manufacturers.
I-scream-about-patents Sandwich
The Californian court case sees Apple claim that the Galaxy Nexus infringes on patents including the ability to unlock a phone screen by sliding an image and voice-based search.
As well as the unlock and search patents, Apple is also making waves over data tapping, a patent that the company had success using over HTC (data tapping is when information from one app can be used to call up another - like when a phone number is included in an email and you have the option to call, text or save it in a different app), and a predictive text patent which the company was recently granted.
Although Apple and Google haven't come out shooting directly at each other, a Cold War situation is emerging where each takes pot-shots at the other via manufacturing partners.
Apple is also a bit narked at Google's BFF Motorola over a patent licensing dispute in which Moto is after 2.5 per cent royalties on every iPhone and iPad sold.
From Reuters, FOSS Patents
