Verizon Sides With Samsung In Apple Patent Claim

Apple is seeking an injunction in the U.S. to ban the sale of Samsung devices that infringe on its intellectual property. Verizon is claiming this will harm its own business as well as consumers. The problem with that logic is if Samsung has broken the law, it shouldn't get off the hook for some greater good, or at least for Verizon's good.

Verizon Wireless made a legal filing in the Apple vs. Samsung case. It claims that an injunction banning some Samsung devices would slow adoption of its new high-speed network. Verizon sells quite a few Samsung devices and it is relying on consumers to buy those faster 4G phones and tablets.

Verizon also threw in that the U.S. government is in favor of faster adoption of 4G networks, implying that Samsung's victory in the case is in the national interest.

Apple's battle with Samsung doesn't end on U.S. shores. Last month Apple got a German court to ban the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 because it too closely resembles the iPad 2.

In the Netherlands, the two tech giants are locked in a battle over 3G standards and patents. Samsung contends that Apple refuses to license 3G patents while Apple claims Samsung put its own technology in international standards and then later claims companies are violating those patents. Samsung is seeking to ban the iPhone there.

The amount of money these two companies are spending suing each other is enormous, but the stakes are equally large. If Samsung can get iOS devices banned in some regions, sales of its Android-powered devices would climb even faster than they already are. If Apple gets Samsung devices banned in the U.S., it would noticeably slow the growth of Android devices. With stakes this high, don't look for either company to let up.

Microsoft, meanwhile, appears to take a more pragmatic approach, preferring to collect royalty payments from Android device makers rather than shut them down.