The ongoing legal battle between Samsung Electronics and Apple worsened with the South Korean firm studying legal action to ban the sales of Apple's new iPhone.

The legal battle is over claims by Apple that Samsung copied its design for the fast-selling Android phones. According to Maeil Business Newspaper, Samsung may seek an injunction on the launch of Apple's iPhone 5 launch in Europe.

Besides seeking to block the iPhone 5 roll out, Samsung filed on Saturday a lawsuit against Apple in Australia on charges that its competitor's smartphones and iPad2 tablet computer breached multiple wireless technology patents that Samsung holds.

Apple filed a suit in early 2011 in Sydney against Samsung over alleged violations of Apple's iPad patent by Samsung's tablet computer.

Samsung has a pending appeal with a German court after Apple sought to prevent Samsung from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 computer in Australia and Germany.

The two technology giants have other pending legal disputes in the U.S., South Korea, France and Japan. However, analysts said the two firms would likely reach a licensing deal eventually to resolve their legal battles since they are also partners in some ventures.