Apple's Lawsuit Sent a Message to Google

[Commentary] One, how badly has Apple been hurt by copycats if it has become the richest company on earth? Do we want a patent system in which the strongest sue everyone else? Is this good for innovation? Two, Apple lost the jury trial on most of its hardware claims, such as a ridiculous patent on curved glass for phone surface design. Apple won mostly on software, such as "pinch and stretch," a nifty design trick Apple introduced in 2007 with its first iPhone.

So why did Apple sue Samsung, the Galaxy hardware manufacturer, and not Google, maker of the phone's Android software? Politics and public relations, mainly. Apple knows that suing a foreign giant will go down a lot better than suing a Silicon Valley neighbor.

Apple enjoys huge favor right now among customers, politicians and the public. Suing Google would divide Apple's support and tarnish the company's image. So Apple sued a foreign company to send a message to Google. This techno-Shakespearian story is entertaining but is bad for the phone-buying public. (Tablet patents were also part of the Apple-Samsung court case, but smartphones were at the heart of the lawsuit.) As Samsung contemplates filing an appeal, it appears that smartphone-makers may begin redesigning their products to avoid crossing swords with Apple.
[Karlgaard is the publisher of Forbes]