If you had $30 billion a year and a 10 percent market share at stake, you would fiercely defend your patents, too. That is what is on the table for Apple in their spread of lawsuits against manufacturers of Android phones, reports CNNMoney. In note to clients today, Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research believes Apple will be successful in their legal battles, and that while Apple has "more to lose," the potential payoff to Cupertino will be huge.

Sacconaghi believes that Apple's "key goal is to upend Android's momentum by forcing a work around on key essential features which, if successful, could have huge, positive financial implications for Apple." What kind of implications? Implications to the tune of a 10 percent smartphone market shift from Android to Apple, more than $30 billion in annual revenue, and more than $10 billion in annual Earnings Per Share to Apple.

Sacconaghi also states that Apple has the advantage in these disputes and likely will be very aggressive in their legal strategies. With so much at stake, it is hard to argue with that theory. Tim Cook restated Apple's position on protecting their intellectual property during an earnings call last week when he said, ""We have a very simple view: we love competition, but we want people to invent their own stuff. And we're going to make sure we defend our portfolio."

The stakes are high, and Apple seems prepared to go the distance.

Via CNNMoney