As tenacious and voracious as Apple's lawyers are, Samsung's lawyers are clever and strategic. Samsung is working on a new tactic in the patent wars started by Apple. In the past, they've tried defending themselves, they've tried negotiations, and they've tried counter-suits. While they have been mildly successful at slowing down Apple's legal wrangling, it's simply not enough to stop it. Their new strategy attempts to attack the problem from a different angle. Instead of fighting directly with Apple, Samsung has decided to sue the Australian Patent Office, with the intention of forcing a judicial review of Apple's original patents. Here's a quote with some details regarding the specifics of this new lawsuit,
This is a brilliant move by Samsung, since it attempts to solve the problem at the root of the issue, which is the broken patent system. If they can get the ball rolling in Australia, then perhaps the effect could snow-ball and cause other patent offices world-wide to revisit Apple's patents. The best part is that there is almost nothing that Apple can do about it. Obviously, this tactic may not work, and this particular lawsuit only attempts to protect the Galaxy Tab 10.1, but if it is even remotely successful, then maybe Samsung can use this idea in other global markets and with other Apple patents.
Source: S3Forums via Engadget