Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it filed patent infringement lawsuits against Apple Inc. in Seoul, Tokyo and Germany, in apparent response to Apple’s suit against it over trademark issues in the U.S. earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Samsung lawsuits don’t directly respond to the Apple suit. Instead, they accuse Apple of violating patents covering cellphone transmission technologies. The legal skirmish is one of a dozen or so prominent cases that have emerged in recent months over the rapidly growing smartphone market…