The process, which is expected to occupy the court for the rest of Tuesday, began with Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny imploring the 10-person jury to look at the documents presented during the case in chronological order.

"Witnesses can be mistaken, exhibits for trial are always created for a purpose and can confuse and mislead, but historical documents are almost always where the truth lies," McElhinny said.

During his 75-minute presentation, he reviewed some of the documents that Apple hopes will convince the jury that Samsung deliberately sought to produce what McElhinny called "iPhone knock-offs."

They included an internal analysis by Samsung Semiconductor of the iPhone before it went on sale, design documents and mock-ups from computer-aided design systems and testimony from witnesses who spoke of similarities between phones from the two companies.

Apple alleges Samsung sold more than 22 million phones in the U.S. that violated the patents in question.