Time for round 234920923423 in the Apple vs. Samsung patent fight as Samsung releases a statement hat it will “demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive” as Apple claims Samsung violated a pair of software patents. On Tuesday, Apple asked a US district court to temporarily ban sales of the Galaxy S III inside the US right as Samsung gears up to launch the smartphone on five US carriers.

Samsung and Apple have been involved in a multitude of bitter patent lawsuits in North America, Europe and Asia since Apple’s first accusation that Samsung copied the iPhone back in April of 2011. As the legal battles continue, Samsung counts Apple as one of its largest buyers of chips and display screens with Apple relies on Samsung for mobile components.

No word on when the US District Court in Northern California will hear the case.

By all means this is getting ridiculous and while Apple may be partly to blame for being overzealous, just as Microsoft is for suing every Android device manufacturer under the sun — the real problem is the broken patent law system itself. The government needs to step in and handle this business already, before consumers really start losing out.

Bloomberg