Every industry has its epic battle, and we’re in the era of mobile warfare.  The love-hate relationship between Apple and Samsung has a special appeal because of their business partnership, success in the consumer market and tit-for-tat lawsuits.  To discuss the latest in the Apple-Samsung case is SiliconANGLE contributing editor John Caseretto, who recently made an appearance on our Morning News Desk (full video below).

A San Francisco court recently overturned the ruling that banned Samsung from selling its Galaxy Nexus handsets in the United States.  Caseretto asserts this latest development as a very significant victory for Samsung, and continues to elaborate on the reasoning behind this decision.

Apple’s claim in this particular lawsuit is that Samsung violated its search IP.  The judge ruled that this one component does not merit a ban: while the Korean phonemaker may or may not have copied Apple, search doesn’t provide any edge to the Galaxy as far as the overwhelming majority of consumers are concerned.

Caseretto emphasizes that while this update is a very notable one, it’s only the latest in an ongoing legal battle that spans multiple courtrooms, jurisdictions and even continents. And this is only one aspect of the shaky relationship between Samsung and Apple.

Apple recently recruited former AMD chief engineer Jim Mergard, a silicon engineer who specializes in developing SoCs – a fairly notable hire considering his credentials.  It’s not Mergard’s background that makes this headline material though – it’s that he joined Apple from Samsung, which appointed him to a key position not all that long ago.

Caseretto speculates that Mergard may have left because the manufacturer is supposedly making a push into the data center, and the industry veteran’s job description may have abruptly changed at one point or another due to this change of direction.

While Apple and Samsung may be hard at work preparing lawsuits and fighting over human resources, it’s important to keep in mind that they’re also co-dependent. Apple is one of Samsung’s largest consumers and it’s the same situation on the end side of the aisle – iPhone shipments rely on the steady flow of components from its rival.