How does Apple handle the competition these days? One of the most talked about gadgets this year was the Palm Pre smartphone, which carries the responsibility of putting Palm back in the spotlight. But will it last?

 

The complex handset drew the attention of rival Apple, and by the looks of it, it is not going to be pretty. Tom Cook, Apple chief exec, said about the “competition,” which he did not name – but that’s just easy math – the following:

 

 

So what does this mean? The first thing that comes to mind is that we’re soon going to be talking about a lawsuit against Palm over intellectual property rights.

 

 A Palm spokeswoman responded this week: Palm has a long history of innovation that is reflected in our products and robust patent portfolio, and we have long been recognized for our fundamental patents in the mobile space. If faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves.

 

Apple has not confirmed any legal action yet, but that seems likelier than ever to happen. As it appears, the company is not happy about Palm using the pinching technique in its multi-touch phone, but according to Palm, that’s not a technology that can be attributed to Apple exclusively, since it’s been around for 20 years now.