Apple is continuing its crusade against competitors that it believes are ripping off its ideas. The company filed a lawsuit against Samsung on Monday, alleging that the electronics giant violated Apple's intellectual property in its Android-powered devices like the Galaxy Tab, Nexus S, and Epic 4G.

"Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products," reads the complaint seen by the Wall Street Journal. (The lawsuit doesn't yet appear to be in PACER, and Apple did not respond to our request for a copy of the complaint.)

The Journal's writeup is short on details, but we believe Apple's complaint is referring to Samsung's "TouchWiz" user interface, which (among other things) lays out the device's apps in a grid of icons. The app drawer is particularly Apple-like, and a brief discussion about TouchWiz among the Ars staff left us in agreement that TouchWiz is toeing the line in its mimicking of iOS.

Apple's language when describing Samsung's alleged follies is reminiscent of the language used when Apple sued Nokia for patent infringement. In December of 2009, Apple said that Nokia had "demonstrated its willingness to copy Apple's iPhone ideas" when creating its own devices. More recently, Apple went after Amazon for using the term "App Store," arguing that Amazon is riding on the tails of Apple's success.

There's no doubt that Apple is applying the same logic to Samsung's own UI choices. The iPhone (and increasingly the iPad) are Apple's headline products now, and the company has shown a continued willingness to sue competitors who use what it considers to be its own innovations.