A lawyer representing Samsung has today told the U.S. International Trade Commission that Apple released its original iPhone using Samsung technology that they didn’t want to pay for.

The news is the latest to come from the ongoing dispute between the two companies. Earlier today it emerged that there had been a delay in the Galaxy Tab lawsuit because of a procedural blunder, but this latest story comes from a different case involving the iPhone.

According to Samsung’s lawyer, Apple’s devices infringe four patents that had taken Samsung decades to develop:

“All of these things that Samsung built up, Apple was using when it entered the market… Apple, in 2007, when they decided to enter an industry they’d never been in before, didn’t even inquire if there was a license they needed to take.”

Apparently talks between Apple and Samsung didn’t go so well…

Apple denies infringing these patents, and they are also questioning just how valid these patents are. Apple’s defence highlighted the fact that in the four years since the iPhone’s release, Samsung had not contested this issue until they themselves were accused of copying Apple’s products. Apple’s lawyer William Lee said:

“In that three- to four-year period, Samsung never suggested the patents were infringed by an Apple product… For nearly four years, no claims of infringement, and then an infringement problem arose.”

The situation is made a whole lot more complicated because Apple relies on Samsung for the production of its chips and displays for its devices. However Samsung also relies on Apple, according to Bloomberg Apple accounts for 7.64 percent of Samsung’s revenue.

It remains to be seen how this trial will pan out. Most agree that it will result in a settlement of some kind, however both sides are still manoeuvring themselves into a position of advantage before those talks begin, ensuring that they can get the best deal going.

@TiP_Stephen