In opening statements Tuesday before a jury in San Jose, Calif., Samsung rejected assertions by its rival Apple that it copied the technology of the iPhone.
"Samsung is not some copyist, some Johnny-come-lately doing knockoffs," a Samsung attorney told jurors as reported by Reuters.
Apple vigorously disagrees, contending Samsung is a copycat. Harold McElhinny, Apple's lawyer, told the jury Samsung decided it would rather copy the consumer electronics giant than "beat Apple fairly in the marketplace," Bloomberg reported. But Samsung's attorney, Charles Verhoeven, asserted that many features of Apple's smartphone, like its popular minimalist design, had already been conceived by others before its release, the report said.
Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007. Since that time, the global market for phones with computing capabilities has ballooned.
The trial in federal court between Apple and Samsung is just one battle in a legal war the tech giants have waged on several continents over intellectual property concerning their wireless devices including the iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy Nexus.
The Wall Street Journal said the trial is expected to last through the end of August.
