Samsung Electronics and Apple are reportedly building patent portfolios involving 4G mobile-network technology, as they prepare for the next instalment of their continuing battle over intellectual property.

LTE 4G technology – currently being installed into telecoms networks round the globe – is at the heart of both Samsung’s most recent Galaxy S III smartphone and Apple’s new iPhone 5.

The Wall Street Journal claims Samsung is holding some 819 LTE patents, while Apple has 318 – up from none last year – and Nokia has 389.

It quotes an unnamed source as saying the blow from Samsung’s recent courtroom defeat at the hands of Apple in the US hasn’t diminished the Korean company’s appetite to continue the legal dispute