Apple once again accuses Samsung of ripping off the iPhone

Apple and Samsung’s second major U.S. patent trial kicked off with opening statements from both companies. Cupertino’s case again focuses on claims that its South Korean rival copied the original iPhone directly when developing its own line of Android handsets, this time focusing on five key software patents that it says the company knowingly violated. Meanwhile, Samsung opened with a claim that Apple’s devices actually violate two of its own software patents.

Apple provided an overarching vision of its legal attack against Samsung today, a case it’s filed to win $2 billion in damages, and get Samsung’s products removed from store shelves. Once again that plan centers around a handful of patents for smartphone and tablet features Apple says Samsung knowingly took and implemented in its own products. At the heart of Apple’s argument is that the company changed the very face of consumer electronics with the iPhone in 2007, and risked nearly everything in the process. Moreover, Apple says Samsung took the fast track to success, copying many of its features and making billions in the process. That’s identical to the argument Apple successfully pulled off in its first US trial against Samsung, however this new trial involves a different group of products and five other patents, which Apple claims is just the tip of the iceberg of Samsung’s copying.