On Wednesday, Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California talked of sanctions against Samsung for violation of a protective order, reports “FOSS Patents” (http://tinyurl.com/nm3hqfe).

It seems that Samsung execs were told the terms of a secret Apple-Nokia patent license, a legal no-no. The court is still trying to find out more about how the information was improperly disclosed, but it already knows a lot about what happened. Sanctions loom large, according to “FOSS Patents.”

This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.