Apple's appeal is the most recent event in a protracted patent litigation battle [JURIST op-ed] with Samsung that spans four continents. The Tokyo court handed down its August ruling after Apple won a USD $1.05 billion judgment [JURIST report; video] against Samsung in late August in the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website]. The dispute covered everything from the shape and design of the competing companies' tablets and smartphones to the technology employed in the devices' software interface. Further, a South Korean court held in mid-August that the technology companies had violated [JURIST report] each others' patents and banned sales of several products in the country. In July a UK court held that Samsung tablets did not infringe on Apple's patents, and earlier in July a federal judge enjoined [JURIST reports] Samsung to stop sales of its Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US. Apple in April of last year filed [JURIST report] the original suit alleging that Samsung had violated 10 patents, two trademarks and two trade dresses by copying iPhone and iPad technology in the making of its "Galaxy" products.