Apple and Samsung are going head to head again this week as the two tech giants accuse one another of stealing various technological innovations.
The companies battled in court less than two years ago when a federal jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple patents, The Associated Press reported. After being ordered to pay $900 million, Samsung appealed the ruling and has since continued to sell products that use the technology in question.
While the series of lawsuits is important to both Apple and Samsung, the results may mean even more for the technology industry as a whole.
"There's a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented," Mark McKenna, a Notre Dame law professor, told the Ap. "Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition."
Apple has demanded that Samsung pay a whopping $40 royalty for every Samsung device using software that Apple allegedly created. If Apple wins, Samsung will be shelling out around $2 billion.
"You rarely get from the jury what you ask for, so companies aim high," German patent analyst Florian Mueller told the AP. "But in my opinion this is so far above a reasonable level the judge should not have allowed it."
In the latest showdown, Apple has accused Samsung of infringing on five patents used in newer devices, while Samsung claims Apple swiped two of its ideas.
The technologies involved in the case have been implemented into Samsung's Galaxy smartphones and tablets as well as Apple's iPhones and iPads.
Apple has listed these Samsung products as infringements on Apple patents: Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Tab II 10.1 and Stratosphere, according to the AP.
On the other hand, Samsung has accused these Apple products of infringing on Samsung patents: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch (fifth generation), iPod touch (fourth generation) and MacBook Pro.
Apple has accused Samsung of stealing a tap-from-search technology that lets users search for a phone number or address and then tap to call the number or put the address into a map. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company also claims that Samsung has infringed on its "Slide to Unlock" capability on smartphones.
For its part, Samsung says Apple has taken a Samsung wireless technology system for swiftly sending and receiving data.
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