When you look at the financial numbers involved, I think the motivation becomes clear.  If Samsung could have gotten Apple products banned from sale in the Netherlands, how many millions would that have been worth.  Or if a company succeeds in showing a competitor is using its patented technology in a product, it can demand a fee for every single example sold.  Think about getting a $15 payment for every iPhone sold - that would add up pretty quickly.  I think another problem is that little thing called independent invention.  Just like the development and design of bows and arrows was essentially mirrored all over the world despite physical isolation of human populations, it stand to reason that different companies whose employees often share educational background - Go Cardinal! - would sometimes determine similar solutions to similar problems.  All it takes then for litigation to start is for someone to say, "Hey, they stole our idea!" Sometimes, of course, that will actually be the case. To paraphrase Steve Jobs (who stole the phrase from Pablo Picasso); good programmers copy, great programmers steal.