U.S. Judge Paul S. Grewal recently granted requests from both Apple and Samsung to add additional products, like the companies’ flagship Galaxy S III and iPhone 5 handsets, to a [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]patent [COLOR=blue !important]dispute[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] that is scheduled to begin hearings in 2014. It was noted that the additions were granted because both companies were “diligent in amending” their claims during the early stages of the lawsuit according to Reuters.

The judgment is a part of Apple’s Galaxy Nexus suit, which was originally filed in February. Apple asserted a number of utility patents against the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Samsung [COLOR=blue !important]smartphone[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], a move which was countered by Samsung’s own claims against certain Apple products. The case is being heard in the same court as the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial that resulted in a $1.05 billion verdict against Samsung this past August.

Apple has included Samsung’s Galaxy S III, the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Galaxy [COLOR=blue !important]Note[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] 10.1, and the Galaxy Nexus version of Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. Samsung ended up adding Apple’s latest [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]iPhone [COLOR=blue !important]5[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] to its countersuit, making good on a previous promise to assert claims against the handset. In Thursday’s order, Judge Grewal even went as far as making a special note to warn Apple of opposing future Samsung amendments to the lawsuit:

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Given the early stage of this litigation and the reasoning of this order, the court notes that Apple should think twice before opposing similar amendments reflecting other newly-released products — e.g. the iPad 4 and iPad mini — that Samsung may propose in the near future.
The case is slated to begin in 2014, with each party asserting eight patent claims against the other.