Apple vs Samsung heats up ahead of Supreme Court clash

Apple was awarded $120m in damages from Samsung last week in a separate battle

The bitter legal battle between smartphone giants Apple and Samsung is set to intensify this week with the pair entering what could be the final phase of a long-running court feud.

Samsung will tell the US Supreme Court tomorrow that the $548.2m (£441m) it was ordered to pay Apple in damages last year, after Samsung was found to have infringed iPhone patents and copied its design, is too high.

The battle relates to a case which initially found that Samsung should pay $1bn in damages, before the ruling was reconsidered.

In a separate court case, Apple was last week awarded $120m in damages from Samsung for infringing three different patents - a decision that came just a few months after a separate court ruled that Samsung would not have to pay out.

Samsung said in a statement: "We are surprised by the decision from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Earlier this year, a panel of the same court found that Samsung had not infringed any valid Apple patent but today the court reached a different conclusion.

"Samsung agrees with Judge Dyk's dissenting opinion that 'this case is not a closed one' in view of the 'flimsy' evidence supporting the majority's opinion and 'trivial nature' of Apple's alleged innovations.

"We agree with Judge Reyna that the process employed creates the potential to damage our system of justice."

Samsung went on to say that it is considering taking the issue to the Supreme Court in the US for a potential second Supreme Court clash. Apple has remained tight-lipped on the ruling.

In other news, Samsung last week announced that it is set to acquire Viv Labs - an artificial intelligence firm set up by the team that created Siri, which was later sold to Apple and integrated with the iPhone.

Less positively for Samsung, rumours have surfaced that it has halted the manufacturing of its Note 7 after a replacement device reportedly caught fire.

"Samsung understands the concern our carriers and consumers must be feeling after recent reports have raised questions about our newly released replacement Note 7 devices," said Samsung.

"We continue to move quickly to investigate the reported case to determine the cause and will share findings as soon as possible."

A global recall of Note 7 devices was initially announced by Samsung last month amid concerns they could explode and there have since been numerous reports of incidents.