"Do they think they need to do this kind of litigation to keep making products people will buy?"
Doesn't really follow.
"Are they trying to discredit Samsung as copycats?"
Absolutely.
"it's a positive business move" sort of thing?"
I think they would rather sign deals guaranteeing more product differentiation than get money directly from lawsuits so not really.
...
Whether they are right or not I think Apple feels genuinely aggrieved by Android in general and Samsung's close copying in particular. Again whether they are right or not I think they are serious when they say they don't want to be both R&D and Design for the whole industry.
The litigation has the following aims imho:
(1) dilute the brands of copycats
(2) scare copycats into differentiating their products more
(3) force utility sapping differentiation via judgements
Doesn't really follow.
"Are they trying to discredit Samsung as copycats?"
Absolutely.
"it's a positive business move" sort of thing?"
I think they would rather sign deals guaranteeing more product differentiation than get money directly from lawsuits so not really.
...
Whether they are right or not I think Apple feels genuinely aggrieved by Android in general and Samsung's close copying in particular. Again whether they are right or not I think they are serious when they say they don't want to be both R&D and Design for the whole industry.
The litigation has the following aims imho:
(1) dilute the brands of copycats
(2) scare copycats into differentiating their products more
(3) force utility sapping differentiation via judgements