Apple Adds Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S III Mini And Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 To California Patent Lawsuit

In ongoing legal proceedings in California, Apple has added six new devices to its patent infringement claims against rival Samsung, getting them in late Friday evening ahead of a deadline on changes to the scope of the complaint. The new additions essentially cover just about every piece of Samsung hardware now available in the U.S. market, with modifications that also account for recent software updates.

The new hardware added to the suit late on Black Friday includes the Samsung Galaxy S III with Android Jelly Bean, the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 Wi-Fi with Ice Cream Sandwich, the Samsung Rugby Pro and the Galaxy S III Mini, which we reported last week is available via Amazon in the U.S. despite not being officially released with any carrier partner as of yet.

This latest addition of products comes after Samsung had requested to add the iPad mini, 4th generation iPad and 5th generation iPod touch to the mix. The judge in the case had set a deadline of Friday, November 24 for amendments made to the complaints for the trial, which is set to be heard in March, 2014. Both sides clearly wanted to be their complaints to be as wide-reaching as possible, despite the fact that any of these devices likely either won’t be on sale when a decision comes down, or won’t be all that important to either company’s product line. There are other benefits to be had, here, including setting broad precedents and ensuring that both companies can claim more in retroactive damages should a decision go their way.

Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages this past summer, as compensation for infringement by a number of devices that were likewise not central to Samsung’s business at the time. Apple’s clearly hoping for a repeat performance this time around, and is casting as wide a net as possible to help increase the impact of a ruling in their favor.