White House Intervention Could Spark Patent Upheaval

Summary: Now that the Obama administration has intervened in a patent infringement ruling between Apple and Samsung, uncertainty lingers over how effective the courts have been over such disputes. Is the patience of politicians beginning to wear thin?

For the first time in more than twenty years, the White House squashed a verdict handed down by a top U.S. trade court, a result of an ongoing patent dispute between Samsung and Apple.

The move came as a surprise to industry watchers, despite coming only a couple of months after the government set up a taskforce to "protect innovators from frivilous litigation." The Obama administration has long had professional and political links with Apple, the iPhone and iPad maker at the center of the dispute with Samsung over patents crucial to industry standards.

But the move itself was not a show of support to the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant. It was to send a signal that "enough was enough, already."