Samsung Electronics Co. filed a countersuit against Apple in Australia, while also appealing a German court ruling, intensifying a global legal dispute between the two tech companies.

The company filed the appeal on Saturday against a court ruling banning Galaxy Tab sales in Germany. The South Korean company also filed a cross claim in the Australian Federal Court alleging Apple violated several patents related to wireless communications held by Samsung with its iPhone and iPad devices.

The two companies had been embroiled in all out legal war with pending legal suits in several companies including the U.S., South Korea and Germany. Apple has accused Samsung of copying its iPhone and iPad design and has successfully won legal bans against Galaxy Tab sales in Australia and Germany. The two companies are currently in patent battles in 12 courts in nine countries around the world.

"To defend our intellectual property, Samsung filed a cross claim for Apple's violation of Samsung's wireless technology patents," Samsung Electronics spokesman Nam Ki-yung said.

The counter-suit in Australia comes ahead of a court ruling about whether the Galaxy will be banned in the country. Apple had filed the suit against Samsung in Australia for allegedly copying the look and feel of the iPad. Samsung is temporarily banned from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 as a result of the lawsuit although it was set to launch on September 12. A hearing has been originally scheduled on September 26 and 29 to decide the suit.

"Samsung has a proud history of innovation in the mobile industry," the company said after filing the Australian suit. "It has invested continuously in R&D, design and technology to produce our innovative and cutting-edge mobile devices."

Samsung is trying to invalidate and revoke Apple patents against its devices although it is still unclear what specific patents are at the heart of the lawsuits. Apple itself is in a patent dispute with HTC over patents transferred from Google.

The appeal in the Dusseldorf court follows a temporary ban against Galaxy 10.1 sales in Germany. Apple has also won an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany that forced Samsung to pull the product out of a consumer-electronics show in Berlin.

Steve Park, a Seoul-based spokesman for Apple, has declined to comment on Samsung's filings in Australia and Germany.