Apple and Samsung have been having massive stoushes in courts all around the world. Battles over intellectual property, mainly patents but also copyright, have become the tech world’s new normal. Companies such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Ericsson, Facebook, HTC, Kodak, Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, RIM, Yahoo! and many others are locked in massive ‘behind the scenes’ litigation and counter-litigation. What is the significance of these ‘patent wars’. How do they affect the strategic positioning of technology companies large and small? What impact does it have on innovation and on the products we, the consumer, get to use?
