Apple v Samsung Just The Tip of The Iceberg

"As those patents stand, they would most likely prevent Samsung from providing capacitive multi-touch screens in general, or at the very least any workaround would result in a substantial degradation of the user experience," said Mueller.

"Apple's selection of patents is symptomatic of the problem of patent thickets, meaning that a particular technology can hardly be implemented without infringing on at least some of the relevant patents. The multi-touch user interface has given rise to one incredibly dense patent thicket."

Kimberlee Weatherall, an Australian intellectual property lawyer, blogger and academic, agreed with Mueller. She said while some of the patents in the case related to specific Apple features - such as the way that lists and websites scroll on the iPhone, including the bounce when you get to the bottom - others were far more general and covered most multi-touch gestures used on the screen.

"If that [patent] claim is valid, that would be quite a restriction on the look and feel of an alternative tablet," she said.

What's more, Apple could further delay Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch by adding more patents to the list of potential infringements if it is not satisfied that the company has sufficiently modified the device.

Apple could target other competitors

Weatherall said the broad nature of some of the patents in Apple's case means it could sue or demand licensing fees from other tablet and smartphone vendors. It may be targeting Samsung first because it is its biggest threat.

"Perhaps Apple wants to take on one company with the multitouch patent to see if it's valid before taking on other companies," she said, adding it was unclear whether courts would allow such a "broad monopoly" on multitouch.

"Maybe Apple knows that if it takes on one or more of the other smartphone makers, it risks a battle almighty against the combined forces of all the phone manufacturers."

Samsung and Apple are suing each other in nine countries and similar patents are cited in Apple's US case. Apple has also gone after other Google Android competitors including HTC and Motorola.

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has previously accused Apple of responding to Android's success with lawsuits rather than innovation. "We have not done anything wrong and these lawsuits are just inspired by our success," he said last month, commenting on Apple's battle with HTC.