Patent Trial Started: Opening Statements Underway

Apple has started giving its opening statements in a patent case surrounding Apple and Samsung. Both sides are alleging the other has infringed on patent rights and the companies have been suing each other repeatedly over the past year. Apple has declared Samsung's smartphones and tablets are almost direct design copies of the iPhone and iPad. The accusations have largely centered around the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the iPad, and how they share many similar design features. Apple has been successful before, blocking the sale of the Galaxy Tab in Germany. Apple demanded $2.5 billion in damages, easily the largest financial demand the company has made in a patent case, and even patent cases in general. According to FoxNews.com, Samsung has given the counter-argument that Apple has patented very common design features and by doing so, are harming healthy competition. Samsung suggests that features like rounded corners have been common in the consumer electronics industry for years, and thus, Apple has no right to patent them. Samsung is also suggesting that the design for the iPhone was influenced from Sony designs. Samsung wants Apple to pay the asking price of transmission technology Samsung owns. Many expect this to be a defining trial, although it seems unlikely that either company will stop having patent lawsuits altogether.