Apple, Samsung Smartphone Patent War Rages On

So much digital ink has been spent chronicling the patent war between tech giants Apple and Samsung that one wonders if some future anthropologist will conclude that this story is the modern equivalent of the Trojan War. The two innovators in the smartphone arena have fought each other (Blue)tooth and claw, suing each other for patent infringement, attempting to get each other’s products blocked from the market and generally antagonizing each other in court. And, while the Trojan War did eventually come to an end (something about a horse, I think?), it seems as if the battle between Apple and Samsung never will.

The two companies have been fighting over certain smartphone features that Apple claims were copied by Samsung, such as slide-to-unlock functionality. Apple wants Samsung to remove those features, but Samsung says it is too difficult to make major changes to its devices based on these features. The two companies have been fighting this legal battle on four continents, but recently, they agreed to pare down their conflict to a pair of cases heard in California.