Samsung asks to see Apples next iPhone, iPad

In an interesting turn of events, Samsungs legal team has asked Apple to hand over next-generation versions of the iPhone and iPad to make sure its own future devices will not be subjected to the same infringement claims the company currently faces as part of Apples lawsuit from last month.

The motion, filed on Friday with the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., and discovered by This Is My Next, asks the court to make Apple provide samples of the final, commercial version(s) of the iPhone and iPad, along with whatever retail packaging those products come in. Again, these arent announced products, theyre named in the filing as the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 3, and third generation iPad.

The news comes a week after Apple filed a motion to see final production samples of a number of announced, though unreleased, Samsung products, including the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 tablets, and smartphones like the Galaxy S II, Droid Charge, and Infuse 4G. The idea behind that was to evaluate whether these devices would fall under the same intellectual-property infringement claims Apple had already placed on Samsung devices like the Nexus S, Captivate, Continuum, and Mesmerize in its original court filing.

Nilay Patel, of This Is My Next, notes that as with Apples handling of the request to see Samsungs unreleased products, the Samsung request asks only that Samsungs lawyers, and not the companys product teams, be allowed to see the Apple devices. That said, the retaliation preys on the element of surprise, historically one of Apples biggest strengths when introducing new products.

Apples lawsuit against Samsung (PDF), back in April, alleged that Samsung had copied Apples mobile devices both in terms of user interface and design features. Apple also alleged that the Samsung devices in question infringed on Apples patents, and resulted in Samsung practicing unfair competition. Samsung fired back by launching a wave of patent infringement lawsuits targeting Apples products in multiple countries.

The case continues to generate intense interest from tech onlookers. While the two companies compete, Apple and Samsung have historically been close business partners, with Apple making use of a number of Samsung components across the range of its devices. Nonetheless, the relationship has not kept Samsung and its telecommunications group from being targeted.