Apple on Black Friday added six Galaxy devices to its Samsung suit

Following Samsung’s motion asking Judge Paul S. Grewal for permission to amend its infringement contentions against Apple with the iPad mini, iPhone 5 and the latest iPod touch, Apple on Black Friday conveniently brought a motion seeking to add latest Galaxy devices to its California suit, including the Galaxy S III running Android Jelly Bean and the four-inch Galaxy S III Mini. The filing adds a total of six recently-released Galaxy gadgets to Apple’s ongoing patent lawsuit against Samsung…

Patent blogger Florian Müeller first spotted amended court papers on his blog FOSS Patents.

The iPhone maker underscores in its motion that all six Galaxy products were released after the fifth-generation iPod touch that Samsung would like to include in this lawsuit.

That should make it “difficult for the court to allow Samsung the addition of the fifth-generation iPod touch  while denying Apple’s latest proposed additions as untimely”, Müeller explains.

Although Apple previously added the Galaxy S III and some of Samsung’s other older devices to its complaint, the motion now mentions the Galaxy S III running Jelly Bean, the latest and greatest version of Google’s Android software.

Interestingly, Apple refrained from extending its claims to the Jelly Bean software itself despite Google complaining that Apple hasn’t yet provided the iOS source code in the Miami case the search giant’s handset arm Motorola Mobility filed against Apple.

What’s more, the filing even clarifies that “Apple does not seek to accuse the Jelly Bean or the Ice Cream Sandwich platforms operating on any Samsung device”.

Other Galaxy devices allegedly infringing Apple’s patents include the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 Wi-Fi, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Rugby Pro and the Galaxy S III mini, depicted at the top, that Samsung launched mid-October in response to the iPhone 5.

I’m not sure this back and forth is reasonable. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2014 and by that time Samsung will introduce successors to most, if not all, Galaxy devices Apple cites.

The iPhone maker, after landing a major $1.05 billion win in August in the patent infringement case against its frenemy, is now seeking more damages and for that the company needs to prove that freshly released or updated Galaxy devices violate its patents.

So, the saga continues…