A UK court decision over whether European patents owned by Samsung are valid and have been infringed by Apple has been delayed until other proceedings before the European Patent Office have been concluded, reports "The Register" (http://tinyurl.com/ofkew2h).

The Court of Appeal granted Samsung's application for a stay of the UK proceedings until the EPO [European Patent Office] decides whether the South Korean mobile device manufacturer can amend the claims of its patents. Samsung said it had applied to amend the claims of its patents before the EPO to take account of judgments issued in a number of countries in which Samsung and Apple are in dispute over the patents, which include Germany and France. However, Apple said Samsung should be forced to choose between pursuing its appeal against a previous High Court ruling in their dispute or continuing with its application to amend the patent claims before the EPO.

This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.