As we approach the launch date for the Palm Pre, things may get rough really fast for the company because Apple is gearing up to make Palm pay one way or another. By pay, Apple may seek royalties or licensing fee. As my friend Mark Spoonauer –Editor-in-Chief of Laptop magazine, eloquently put it in an email exchange, “My bet is that Apple will try to hit them (and lots of other folks) with a licensing fee. If Apple tries to get an injunction on the device they will come out looking like sore losers trying to prevent competition. This is as much a PR issue as it is a legal issue…” As it stands now, Palm along with every other phone manufacturers out there copying the iPhone’s UI and design are all in hot water.

Should Apple go after Palm for the gesture area beneath the touchscreen, Palm is totally screwed due in part to the following section in the patent:

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, the device 100 may include a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

Guess what? One of Palm Pre features includes a gesturing area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation.

Apple (AAPL) COO Tim Cook said the company would use “whatever weapons we have at our disposal” to pursue anyone who “rips off” Apple’s iPhone intellectual property. Therefore, I don’t believe Apple will sit around idle and let Pre come to market without paying a hefty price.