A U.S. federal judge gave Apple the green light to proceed with its lawsuit against Samsung over its Siri digital assistant patents.

Judge Lucy Koh, a name already very familiar to those who follow the epic battle between Apple and Samsung, just ruled that she will not suspend Apple's lawsuit against its South Korean rival. This lawsuit concerns patterns that Apple uses for Siri and is different from the case that went to trial back in 2012.

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Last year, Apple won a $1.5 billion verdict against Samsung in a San Jose, Calif., trial, but Judge Koh denied Apple's request for a permanent injunction against sales of infringing Samsung devices. Apple also filed a separate lawsuit accusing Samsung of violating a set of patents, including one related to Siri voice search technology.

Apple appealed the judge's decision of the product ban in the first case, and Koh said last month that the second case, i.e. the Siri case, might be dismissed as the eventual ruling on the first case could ultimately resolve both cases.

"I just don't know if we really need two cases on this," Judge Koh said at the time, according to a Reuters account of the proceedings cited by CNET. Apple, of course, objected.

Now, the U.S. federal judge presiding over the landmark patent case between the tech giants in Northern California said that a second Apple patent suit against Samsung over Siri technology can go forward. For the case to proceed, however, both companies must "significantly" simplify the scope of the case by reducing the number of expert witnesses and expert witnesses, reports Reuters.

The Siri case against Samsung is set to go on trial this month. Meanwhile, Apple's appeal on Koh's rejection of a product ban in the first case will likely not reach a verdict until at least September 2013.

Earlier this month, Koh cited jury error in calculating the damages in the first case and slashed $450 million off the $1.05 billion damages award, ordering a new trial on the damages to recalculate everything. In conclusion, the war between Apple and Samsung seems far from over. 

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