What could be the finale to the five-year-old Samsung-Apple patent dispute heads to the nation’s highest court this week.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear oral arguments on financial damages the South Korean smartphone behemoth owes Apple for alleged violation of design patents. It could eventually decide damages and, more important, define the value of design work, which is increasingly  valuable in the tech industry as products like smartphones become commodities. The court typically issues decisions three to four months after hearing arguments.

“If you asked people six years ago about design patents, they would have shrugged,” Stanford Law professor Mark Lemley says. “This case has brought the topic into focus, and we’ve seen an increase in the number of lawsuits. It is seen as a strong method of protecting some kinds of innovation.”