The Apple vs. Nokia saga might have ended with the two companies signing a patent licensing agreement recently, but the Apple vs. Samsung battle is still very much on.

The latest chapter in this ongoing court drama sees Apple responding to Samsung’s Motion to Compel, a request to have their lawyers view the iPhone 5 (or 4S) and the iPad 3 as part of the discovery process.

Samsung’s motivation for that move was to assess any possible similarities between their smartphones and tablets and Apple’s forthcoming products, in order to prepare for further potential legal action from Apple.

According to the FOSS Patents tech blog, Apple stated in one of its most recent filings that Samsung “attempts to harass” it and also that the Korean manufacturer’s demands to view the next iPhone and iPad are not made in good faith. The Cupertino-based iPhone and iPad maker also labels Samsung as “the copyist”.

“Samsung’s Motion to Compel is an improper attempt to harass Apple by demanding production of extremely sensitive trade secrets that have no relevance to Apple’s likelihood of success on its infringement claims or to a preliminary injunction motion,” the company states in the conclusion of its filing, in opposition to Samsung’s Motion to Compel it to hand over the next versions of its upcoming mobile devices.   

“Apple made a compelling showing in its motion to expedite discovery that Apple needs samples of products that Samsung has already announced, distributed, and described, so that Apple can evaluate whether to file a preliminary injunction motion against those products, which look strikingly similar to the distinctive trade dress of Apple’s current products. Samsung has made no such showing about Apple’s future products. Therefore, Samsung’s Motion to Compel should be denied.”

This saga kicked off when Apple sued Samsung for alleged patent- and copyright violations within the Korean manufacturer’s Galaxy line-up of smartphones as well as tablet PCs, which led to Samsung filing a countersuit against Apple, with some legal action of its own.

Apple and Samsung’s lawyers are set to square off again this Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, at which time they will meet their judge to discuss Samsung’s Motion to Compel.