Apple/Samsung suit begins today

The big patent infringement trial between Apple and Samsung kicks off today in a California court, as noted by The New York Times. With infringement claims pending against both companies, there's a lot at stake.

As pointed out by Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Fortune's Apple 2.0, the trial can be summarized by the first few lines in each company's pre-trial brief.

Apple: "Samsung is on trial because it made a deliberate decision to copy Apple's iPhone and iPad." Samsung: "In this lawsuit, Apple seeks to stifle legitimate competition and limit consumer choice to maintain its historically exorbitant profits."

To help you get up-to-date on the long-standing dispute, The Verge has a detailed post describing both Samsung's case against Apple and Apple's case against Samsung. Written by Matt Macari and Nilay Patel, the post also tells you what to expect during the trial. You can also check out AllThingsD, which has a cheat sheet that spells out the major points of the legal battle; writer Ina Fried is covering the trial in person.

[Via Fortune 2.0, The Verge and AllThingsD]