SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. sued Chinese smartphone maker Huawei for allegedly violating six of its patents in the latest move in a series of deepening patent disputes between Asian smartphone giants.

The South Korean company said Friday that it took legal action to defend its intellectual property despite efforts to resolve the dispute amicably.

"At all times we have faithfully negotiated with other patent holders for the fair licensing of technology in order to ensure fair competition and continued growth in the industry," the company said in an emailed statement.

"However, despite our best efforts to resolve this matter amicably, it has regrettably become necessary to take legal action in order to defend our intellectual property."

Samsung would not say where the lawsuits were filed or whether the lawsuits were related to mobile devices. South Korea's Yonhap News said Samsung sued Huawei in Beijing for infringing on patents for smartphones worth 80.05 million yuan ($12 million).

In May, Huawei filed lawsuits against Samsung in the United States and China, accusing the South Korean company of violating 12 patents for mobile devices and networks. Huawei demanded reasonable compensation but did not seek a sales ban on Samsung mobile devices in the United States.

Samsung and Huawei are two of the largest makers of smartphones based on Google's Android system. Samsung is the world's largest smartphone supplier and Huawei is the third after Apple.