Samsung is attempting to block the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in Japan and Australia in the latest twist in the patent battle between the two companies.

The South Korean smartphone giant has sought preliminary injunctions in the Tokyo District Court and News South Wales Registry, requesting a ban on sales of the Apple device, according to a statement on the Samsung Village blog.

The Japanese injunction request claims the iPhone 4S infringes Samsung’s HSPA standard patent and three user interface patents, namely the in-flight mode icon, home screen customisation and the tree structure used for browsing apps. The blog post said these patent infringements “seriously violate” Samsung’s intellectual property.

The Australian preliminary injunction request is connected to three patents related to the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and HSPA standards.

“In light of these violations, Samsung believes the sale of such Apple devices should be banned. Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology. We will no longer stand idly by and will steadfastly protect our intellectual property,” the blog post stated.

Samsung is seeking a similar injunction for the previous-generation iPhone 4 and iPad 2 in Japan and has appealed an Australian Court’s decision last week to block the sale of its Galaxy Tab 10.1. Samsung has previously filed requests for the sale of the iPhone 4S to be banned in Italy and France.

Apple originally accused Samsung of infringing its patents when it sued the South Korean company, accusing it of “slavishly” copying the iPhone and iPad with its smartphones and tablets and infringing some of its design and user interface patents.

Apple has successfully blocked the sale of Samsung devices in several countries, including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany and the Netherlands. Samsung recently said it plans to circumnavigate the Dutch ban on its smartphones by altering the devices so they no longer include the technology Apple claims infringes its patents.

Reuters reported last week that a US district judge ruled that Samsung’s tablets infringe patents owned by Apple. However she added that Apple must prove the validity of the patents to win an injunction banning sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.

Amid the background of the Samsung vs Apple spat, the iPhone 4S racked up huge sales during the first day of its availability in the US.

Mobile operator AT&T’s website said that, as of 4.30pm Eastern Time on Friday, it had “already activated a record number of iPhones on our network – and is on-track to double our previous record for activations on a single day.”

Fellow operator Sprint Nextel – which is seen to have taken a risk in paying Apple’s not-insignificant subsidies to sell the iPhone 4S – published a release on the same day saying it had its “best ever day of sales in retail, web and telesales for a device family in Sprint history with the launch of iPhone 4S and iPhone 4”.

Brigante Advisors analyst Kevin Dede predicted in an investor note that “at least 24 million” iPhones of all models will be sold in the final quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, Piper Jaffray found that 73 percent of people queuing to buy the device on the first day were upgrading from a previous iPhone model, with 27 percent buying an iPhone for the first time.