Patents' growing role in battle of mobile

Apple's patent lawsuit last week against Taiwanese smart phone manufacturer HTC was just one complaint aimed at a rival trying to outdo the iPhone. But the case shines a new light on the growing use of technology patents to mark turf and battle competitors in the fast-growing field of mobile.

Experts are unclear on Apple's ultimate intent in suing HTC, whether it's to explicitly stamp out what it calls theft by HTC or to sound a warning to the entire smart phone industry - including newfound rival Google - that it could be coming for them next. But analysts and observers agree that intellectual property litigation in this arena is heating up, and consumers could eventually be affected by the growing friction.