As Apple continues to battle Samsung across the globe in 21 different patent lawsuits, Verizon decides to join the fight here in the United States. Things should get really interesting.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the intellectual property spectrum, Apple was denied a trademark its been vying for since the iPhone was launched in 2007.

Apple vs. Samsung, Now Backed by Verizon

Verizon filed a "friend of the court" brief with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in an effort to deny Apple’s request that it bans the sale of the Infuse 4G, Galaxy S 4G, Droid Charge, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1. 

Verizon argued that the injunction requested by Cupertino would hurt the consumer because it “would hinder Verizon Wireless in developing and deploying its next generation high-speed LTE [fourth-generation] network, the job growth dependant [sic] on that network, and will undercut key public policy goals, including expansion of American's [sic] access to broadband networks and faster communication with emergency personnel.”

Join me, and together, we can rule with the Galaxy! 

Wireless carriers generally remain neutral when intellectual property disputes arise between hardware manufacturers. However, by backing Samsung, Verizon is stacking its chips with Google and Android. Verizon was always a key player in establishing Android as a smartphone OS, and partnered with Google on a controversial proposal to redefine "net neutrality". And now, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that Google has treated Verizon very well for their efforts, which is no wonder why Big Red has its priorities on maintaining that special bond.

But on the flip side, Apple and Verizon seemed to have forged a solid working partnership this past spring when Verizon (finally) launched the iPhone. With a purportedly new iPhone about to be announced, and the ongoing rumor of a 4G-capable iPhone next year, Verizon figures to be a key partner for Apple. It remains to be seen what impact this move by Verizon will bear on that relationship.

Apple vs. USPTO

Apple again tried and was again denied in its pursuit to trademark the term Multi-Touch. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board at the United States Patent and Trademark Office handed down the decision, which should effectively end Cupertino’s quest to corner the market on a term that is now so widely used.

Apple originally applied for the trademark on January 9, 2007, the same day that the iPhone was introduced. However, that initial application was denied by the USPTO, which resulted in Apple going to the Appeal Board. The board has now upheld the initial decision, and refused to grant the trademark.

Apple: U can't touch this. USPTO: Yes, U can.

Touch screens and Multi-Touch devices certainly existed prior to the iPhone, but Apple’s argument hinged the very defensible position that the market changed drastically when the first iPhone waslaunched. The board, however, decided that the term "multi-touch" has taken on generic meaning, being used by a wide variety of publications to describe the touchscreen technology on Android phones, tablets, and notebooks. Specifically, the board noted that the term not only identifies the technology, but also describes how a user of the goods operates the device” and “MULTI-TOUCH indeed is highly descriptive of a feature of the identified goods.”

Ownership of the term Multi-Touch may have been a boon for Apple marketing, but this was always and uphill fight for Cupertino that got harder the further away we got from the initial iPhone launch.

Adrian covers daily news as well as the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. You can follow him on Twitter, if you want to.