BY ANTOINE MADONDO

A courtroom showdown between two tech titans has turned into an argument over a 40-year-old Sci Fi flick.

ABC has the details.

“Samsung is defending its rights to marker a tablet, awfully similar to iPad. Their defense? That the iPad isn’t all that original. They cite the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’” [movie clip playing] “As you can see, it could be argued that the tablet-like device in the film does share some features with the iPad. It’s flat, has a large screen and black borders.”

So does Kubrick really have dibs on the iPad? Australian Patent Attorney Mark Summerfield says on his blog, Paleontology, Samsung might have a case.

“…they may have designed its external appearance, and this may be enough to prevent Apple from enforcing its alleged intellectual property rights in relation to the physical appearance of its latest tablet.”
 

But the tablet tiff is just one battle in the Apple versus Samsung war. Information Week reports...

“Apple has rolled up its sleeves and continues to throw punches at Samsung. Wednesday, a court in the Netherlands agreed with Apple's claim that a handful of Samsung smartphones violate Apple's patents. In particular, the handsets violate a patent with respect to how smartphones scroll and browse through a photo gallery.”

A blogger for Lazy Tech Guys says-- sure-- that’s a W for Apple, but still...

“This sounds far worse than it really is for Samsung and I can’t see Samsung being upset in any way.  Apple accused them of infringing on 10 patents; only one of the patents stuck…”

But a reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald points out-- as big as the battle between Samsung and Apple is-- that feud is just the tip of the iceberg.