At issue was the steering mechanism in the “Motion Sync” vacuum cleaner that Samsung introduced at a Berlin consumer electronics show last summer. Sir James Dyson declared it a “cynical rip-off” of a patented feature in Dyson’s DC cylinder vacuums.

Samsung had documentation to show it had been working its steering mechanism for more than a year, and the Dyson suit was dismissed on Nov. 21, 2013 — the same day a California jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple another $290 million for iPhone patent infringements.

Now Samsung has turned the tables, according to the
Korea Times
, and is suing Dyson for “intolerable” litigation that has “seriously hurt its corporate image.”

Declaring that it is taking “a hard-line stance against patent trolls that use litigations as a marketing tool,” Samsung is asking for 10 billion won ($9.4 million) in damages.

This is not the first time the two companies have locked horns over vacuum cleaner technology. In 2009 Britain’s High Court ordered Samsung to suck it up and pay Dyson $850,000 for infringing Dyson’s “triple cyclone” patents.

UPDATE: Dyson’s official statement:

“Dyson pioneered cyclonic vacuum cleaners and digital motors – and has been developing them ever since. We patent our technology, and naturally defend it.  It is surprising that a company over 100 times bigger than Dyson is so worried.  The patent system offers us some protection, but not enough: with an army of lawyers, hidden prior art is occasionally found and ways to design around existing patents identified.”

LINK: The Verge: Samsung sues Dyson following ‘intolerable’ copycat claims