The intensifying competition in the mobile phones arena has resulted in an ever-increasing number of patent lawsuits being filed by rivals - with the most recent one being Apple's lawsuit against the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC.

The other notable patent-infringement lawsuits that have been filed of late include Nokia's October-filed lawsuit against Apple, and Apple's countersuit against Nokia; a Taiwanese firm's suit against Apple; and Kodak's January-filed lawsuit against Apple and Research in Motion.

Meanwhile, experts are still trying to figure out Apple's intent behind the patent lawsuit against HTC - it could either be aimed at the elimination of the alleged theft by HTC or a warning of legal action to the smartphone industry.

Whatever Apple's intentions may be, analysts and market watchers almost unanimously believe that intellectual property litigation in the smartphone arena is heating up; and the escalating friction between the companies might eventually affect the consumers.

Commenting on the growing patent lawsuits' scenario, Paul Andre, a partner with `King & Spaulding' law firm, said: "I'm seeing more, larger patent cases in the last couple years. It does appear that companies that were more hesitant to file lawsuits in the past are filing today."

Jason Schultz, director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley, is of the opinion that with tons of money being invested in the mobile arena, lawsuits essentially underscore the "economics" of the industry.