As if facing legal action over patents from fellow handset manufacturers, such as Apple, was not enough, Korean firm Samsung is now facing action from the infrastructure market after Ericsson filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the company. The Swedish vendor claims that Samsung refused to sign a license agreement on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, despite two years of negotiations.

The CEOs of Apple and Samsung, Tim Cook and Choi Gee-sung, have agreed to hold settlement talks to try to resolve a patent lawsuit over smartphone and tablet technology, according to a court filing. Meanwhile, Twitter has announced that it will begin a policy of not using patents as a tool to impede the innovation of others.

The ongoing patent war between smartphone players is showing no signs of abating in 2012, as it has been revealed that Google acquired more patents from IBM at the end of last year, some of which are likely to be used to protect its Android handset ecosystem.

Apple has been denied a preliminary injunction to block the sale of Samsung’s touchscreen smartphones and tablets in the US, after a judge in California ruled that the Korean manufacturer’s products would not severely impact Apple’s sales. The ruling means that Samsung will be able to sell its devices in the US during the traditionally lucrative Christmas season.

Apple has won a case in Germany to prohibit the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet device in the country.

The Düsseldorf court upheld the preliminary injunction secured by Apple, which claims that Samsung had infringed its intellectual property and copied the iPad.