So it has come and gone that Apple have taken the fight wth Samsung for smartphone and tablet market share beyond basic marketing strategy. I worry that there is a possiblity of setting an ugly trend here were companies that feel insecure about their marketing positions can use legal instruments to win their battles in the shop.

So if Apple could win, who else has a chance to sue their rivals and get ahead in the market. Word is NOKIA still contributes significantly to the antenna technology in all mobile phones. Imagine NOKIA saying F OFF to everyone in the mobile phones game. Apple won’t like that one bit.

The whole thing reminded me of the Olympics in Athens when NIKE wanted to get Adidas to remove some of its branding from products and have just one trademark like NIKE does. They were suggeting that Adidas either has the 3 leaf mark or three stripes or the more modern 3 blocks on the chest but not all three or 2 as is usually the case. Apparently NIKE felt this was unfair advertising and Adidas were getting more out the money they paid for advertising at the olympics, which, incidentally was the same as what NIKE paid at the same time.

The problem I have with all this is it kills competition and creativity from marketers in their quest for market dominance. With budgets topping £28 billion in 2011/12 there is hope yet for marketing to prevail, perhaps the creators of products should stop focusing on their rivals’s product and invent new ground braking technology rather than this endless chain of innovation that has lead Samsung to pay a king’s ransom in fines.

But, maybe we have reached the end of our inventiveness as a generation. I often ask my students – “is it possible to come up with something totally unique and not a copy of anything on the market at the moment?”