A US judge has rejected Apple’s request to add Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S4 smartphone to the list of products, which it claims to infringe its patents.
The ruling from US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal is part of a second patent case in San Jose, California court in the US between both the firms covering new smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy S III.
Bloomberg reported Grewal’s ruling which said: "Adding another product to the case is a "tax on the court’s resources."
"Each time these parties appear in the courtroom, they consume considerable amounts of the court’s time and energy, which takes time way from other parties who also require and are entitled to the court’s attention," Grewal said.
Last month, Apple said in a court filing that based on its analysis of the Galaxy S4 the company has concluded that it is an infringing device.
The latest lawsuit follows a case in which a nine-member jury panel awarded Apple $1.05bn in August 2012, after finding Samsung infringed six of seven iPhone maker’s patents for mobile devices.
Earlier this month, the US International Trade Commission found that Apple violated one of Samsung Electronics’ patents, and ordered a ban on sale of some older iPhone maker devices from the US market.
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Apple and Samsung, which collectively make about half the smartphones sold across the world, are involved in about 30 lawsuits in four continents.
