Apple vs. Samsung Patent Trial Of The Century Opens In California

Apple graphic submission to the court

It's underway and it could result in billions of dollars in damages for either side. Apple and Samsung are suing each other with both claiming copyright and patent infringement.

It started with Apple taking legal action against Samsung, claiming the South Korean electronics giant copied the iPhone and iPad with its range of Android-powered Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Samsung then counter-claimed and the two cases have now been put together in a trial before a jury in California.

Before the jury was sworn in, Samsung asked the judge to ban images of Steve Jobs that Apple is planning to use in its opening presentation. The judge refused.

She also turned down a demand from Samsung that it should be allowed to use the quote from Jobs that he was declaring "thermonuclear war" on Android. The judge stood by her decision to exclude the quote from the official Steve Jobs biography because it was hearsay.

"Our lawsuit is saying, ‘Google, you f**king ripped off the iPhone, wholesale ripped us off.’ Grand theft. I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong.

"I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go to thermonuclear war on this. They are scared to death, because they know they are guilty. Outside of Search, Google’s products—Android, Google Docs—are s**t." (Steve Jobs quote in Walter Isaacson's biography of the Apple co-founder)

The trail is expected to last several weeks.