Professor Mark Lemley explains why an outdated law has contributed to the patent legal wars in this New York Times article. 

Less than two weeks ago, Samsung agreed to pay Apple $548 million in damages in Federal District Court, as their yearslong legal conflict seemed to be tailing off to a cease-fire.

But the clash is not yet over.

On Monday, Samsung, the Korean electronics company, filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that the legal framework for design patents — at the center of the suits between the companies — is outdated for the modern digital world. The issue at stake, Samsung says, extends well beyond the courtroom skirmishes of the two large corporations.

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“The law was written for a time long before the smartphone was invented,” said Mark A. Lemley, a law professor and director of the Stanford University program in law, science and technology, who has previously filed a brief in support of Samsung.

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Mr. Lemley’s argument in support of Samsung, filed in the appeals court, was signed by more than two dozen law professors.