Samsung lawsuit puts Apple's iPhone 5 and iPad 3 under spotlight

Samsung's lawyers have asked a federal judge for access to Apple's upcoming iPhone 5 and iPad 3 in preparation for a possible injunction. 

If you recall, Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung claiming it copied the iPhone and iPad design. Not surprisingly Samsung countersued shortly therafter wth patent infringement claims of its own. 

Last week, the court ordered Samsung to reveal the unreleased Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and DROID Charge to Apple within 30 days to help determine whether or not to request an early injunction, BGR reports. 

As ThisIsMyNext points out, Samsung is requesting the same courtesy with the iPhone 5 and the iPad 3 - but it is important to point out that only Apple's lawyers are permitted to examine unreleased devices, not anyone from Apple itself.

There is also the fact that all of Samsung's products were officially announced or released, making them public record - so to speak. 

The bottom line is that if Apple does end up filing for the injunction, there isn't much reason for the court to grant Samsung access to Apple's devices. After all, Samsung's reasoning behind the request is based on the "possibility" of future legal proceedings from Apple.

Even if the court does approve Samsung's request, there will surely be appeals that would potentially stretch the proceedings beyond the release of the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 anyway. 

The thing to take away from all of this is that the patent dispute between Apple and Samsung is getting messy. Obviously, Samsung will not lie down and allow Apple and the courts to ban its products from the market without a fight.