Samsung argued that Apple could not claim the rights for all rectangleswithroundedcorners or other basic geometric designs used for phones and tablets.
It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangleswithroundedcorners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies.
But they are about minor details of the implementation of how you build and operate a smartphone (well, OK, rectangleswithroundedcorners aside) not about the very concept of one at all.