Samsung has sought a preliminary injunction to stop orders of the iPhone 4S in France and Italy on Wednesday following the announced of the new phone from Apple.

In yet another punch flung in what has to be one of the lengthiest tech patent battles in recent history, Samsung is claiming the iPhone 4S infringes wireless telecommunications technology patents.

The WCDMA elements in the iPhone 4S is according to Samsung the guilty culprit. The company has brought patent infringement cases in both France and Italy and hopes to seek a ban of sales of the iPhone 4S.

A statement on the Samsung website reads:

"The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Apple’s violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales."

"Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology. We believe it is now necessary to take legal action to protect our innovation." 

Unhappy faces at the Samsung towers clearly. The iPhone 4S is now dangerously close to Samsung's flagship Galaxy S II specs-wise and will likely do some serious damage to the handset's sales dominance.

Not to worry though, from the looks of it Sammy has a Nexus Prime reveal soon enough which should get most mobile fanatics excited. 

Shame that innovation seems to be battling it out in the courts over patents, rather than the two mobile giants genuinely trying to out do each other on the product front. 

It also looks like Samsung plans on taking its patent battle further afield, so we could see more iPhone 4sS action in other countries. 

"Samsung plans to file preliminary injunctions in other countries after further review."

What do you think? Legal battles good or bad? Let us know in the comments below ...