The legal fisticuffs between Apple and Samsung continues this week, with the iPhone and iPad maker suing Samsung in its South Korean backyard and reportedly on the lookout for a replacement chip supplier as well.

Samsung is taking a couple of blows, since it lost its Motion to Compel Apple to fork over forthcoming versions of the iPhone and the iPad 3, as part of the discovery process last week. Following that loss Apple filed a patent lawsuit against the Korean tech giant with the Seoul Central District Court in South Korea.

This new lawsuit, like the original lawsuits Apple filed in April in the US, alleges that Samsung’s Galaxy line-up of smartphones as well as tablet PCs, infringes upon some of its patents and trademarks. Samsung responded to this original lawsuit, by filing counter-lawsuits against Apple in South Korea, Japan as well as in Germany.

According to CNet, Apple is looking for new chip suppliers to lessen its reliance on Samsung as a result of the bitter legal exchanges between the two tech companies. The leading contenders thus far are Intel, which already supplies the processors for all of Apple’s Mac computers and notebooks such as the new MacBook Pro range as well as the new iMacs, and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

 

In related news Apple recently ended its patent battle with Nokia by signing a patent licensing agreement with the Finnish E7 and N9 manufacturer.