The stiff rivalry between South Korean tech giant Samsung and American tech firm Apple continues through lawsuits. Samsung, after losing to Apple in a Tokyo District Court on Feb 28, elevated the matter to the Intellectual Property High Court (IPHC), based in Tokyo.

The lawsuit is part of Samsung's attempt to ban the sale of the iPhone, including future devices such as the speculated iPhone 5S and iPhone 6, in Japan over alleged copyright infringement of 3G technology.

The Tokyo District Court earlier favoured Apple and said that Samsung had no right to claim damages from the former. Samsung filed the lawsuit in April 2011 in Tokyo over alleged unauthorised use by Apple of certain data transmission patents.

Following the court ruling, Samsung expressed disappointment with the court decision and said that after it thoroughly reviews the decision, it will initiate measures to protect its intellectual property rights.

Meanwhile, pending before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is another court battle between the two tech giants over copyright infringement of Apple's text-selection patent which could lead to a ban on older Samsung devices in the U.S. if the ITC upholds an ITC judge's decision that Samsung breached RE41.922, Apple's text-selection patent.

Since the ruling covers only older devices, it would exclude the much anticipated Galaxy S4 which is expected to be available in the U.S. by August 2013.

Due to tech firms' propensity to file lawsuits, another judge had chided Apple and Motorola, which are disputing several copyrights, for using the legal system to increase their market share at the expense of rival companies.

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