Apple now wants to ban Samsung Galaxy gadgets in Japan

The fighting just doesn’t let up. Apple has now filed a lawsuit in a Japanese court to ban some of Samsung’s popular Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Apple and Samsung have been in a legal fist fight since April, when Apple sued Samsung in U.S. court for patent infringement, saying that its Galaxy S smartphones and tablets “slavishly” copied the designs of the iPhone and iPad. Extensions of the infringement case have thus far made it to courts in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Korea.

Now Japan can be added to that long list. Apple’s suit to ban sales of Galaxy S and S II smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet was filed with the Tokyo District Court, according to Reuters. The first hearing was reportedly held on Wednesday.

Samsung filed its own suit against Apple in Japan in April, and Apple filed a countersuit on Aug. 23. Apple is also seeking $1.3 million in additional damages.

The global battle has taken a few interesting turns before now. Just last week, Apple used a court-ordered injunction to force Samsung to remove its new Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet from the floor of the IFA trade show in Berlin. And the week before that, a Dutch judge ruled that several Galaxy devices violated Apple’s patents and forced Samsung to take some of its products off shelves in Europe.

This is certainly not the last we’ve heard of the fight between these two tech titans. Keep your eyes on VentureBeat for the latest on the ongoing legal struggle.