Apple may translate Cold War tactics to the marketplace, using the threat to unload its “nuclear arsenal” in an attempt to derail Palm’s iPhone rival, a patent attorney told Bloomberg Monday.
If swords are unsheathed, the battle could leave both parties bloody and Apple’s image altered, according to the news report.
“The best deterrent of a nuclear arsenal is not to use it,” Morgan Chu, patent lawyer for Los Angeles, Calif.-based Irell & Manella told Bloomberg.
Last month, interim Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors the iPhone maker would “use whatever weapons we have at our disposal” to prevent Apple patents being “ripped-off.” The comment was seen as a veiled threat against Palm, which recently introduced the Pre, a touch-screen smartphone viewed as an iPhone rival.
The Palm Pre also rubs Apple the wrong way because the device was developed under the leadership of Jonathan Rubinstein, who previously oversaw iPod sales while in Cupertino.
Chu said the threat may be enough to make Palm change direction. However, Palm said it was “confident” it could win any infringement challenge.
The iPhone has become a ripe target for challengers. Apple could sell 28 million iPhones in 2009 – double the more than 10 million shipped in 2008, according to Piper Jaffray & Co.
However, a patent fight over the iPhone could bring negative consequences to Apple. Going to court over patents could be a “philosophical shift” for Apple, New York patent attorney James Hanft told the news organization.
