Never has there been a better time for Nokia to announce its Windows 8 tablet - following an American judge's order for Samsung to halt sales of the Galaxy 10.1.
Because if the Finnish mobile giant produces an original shape, similar to its Lumia phones, using Windows 8 software, Apple won't be able to stop it.
But there are many more reasons why Nokia should grab this chance for a home run, apart from the fact that the new Asus Google Nexus 7 also has an allegedly familiar look. With a Windows 8 tablet, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop could make a bit of a disruption in the iPad-dominated market by producing a lower cost device, with a bright new operating system that just happens to integrate with the business software of choice, Office.
Nokia's Windows phones have the DNA to produce a tempting tablet. The engineering geniuses at Nokia and Qualcomm and the coders at Microsoft have an ultra-lean approach to mobile which has already made the attractive and efficient Nokia Lumia smartphones relatively inexpensive to make, based on a very fast single-core chip.
The relationship between these three companies in developing the 7.5 version of the Windows Phone has been like a wartime alliance under which no opportunity for squeezing more efficiency into the joint effort is left out of the equation.
That's one reason the Nokia Lumia 900 has a smaller battery capacity than some rival phones but can at least equal them on charge time.
So, you put the new ultra-versatile dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus series 4 mobile processor from Qualcomm with the once-size-fits-all Windows 8 software and ask Nokia what they can make with it.
The answer is virtually any mobile device you want: phone and tablet, and even something in between. There is no reason on earth that Nokia couldn't enter the tablet market with its version using the same basic chips in all devices - even if it means doing so as other manufacturers start to go heavily into quad-core.
By holding back in the core stakes, Nokia will actually be getting ahead by keeping one key cost down, without sacrificing performance. Throw in the ability of a dual-core Nokia Windows 8 tablet to handle Skype calling with ease, probably better than any other mobile device, and you have an even more appealing tablet.
Another way Nokia can undercut Apple's iPad costs is by making its tough and cost-effective polycarbonate shells work in tablet form.
Another positive aspect to the Nokia-Qualcomm-Microsoft alliance is that each member is ruthlessly focusing on quality as well as efficiency, even if it means having to sacrifice one of its own products from the process.
This is demonstrated by Microsoft's willingness to adopt Nokia's mapping software above its own Bing Maps, while Nokia is more than happy to give Microsoft's Office applications prominence.
Another key factor is the global scale that Google, Apple, Samsung and Amazon are operating on. Which is why Microsoft needs allies like Nokia to help it deliver Windows 8 on this massive scale if it is to machete its way into the market. Nokia can be assured Microsoft will get behind its Finnish tablet because that will not be in competition with the higher end own-brand Surface from Redmond.
Nobody at Nokia will deny they are making a Windows 8 tablet but they won't go on record to confirm it either. Apart from one executive back in November.
This week, when asked by Hashablemedia whether he could confirm a Windows 8 tablet, Stephen Elop would only say: "Sorry, I cannot comment on future product plans."
But given the opportunity to bring the most cost-effective and efficient tablet to market, how could he possibly resist?
The only crucial factor against a sooner-rather-than-later approach is that Nokia does not want to release a rush job.
As Stuart Miles of Pocket-lint said: "If they get it right, it could go very well indeed."
But whatever you think of the Apple-Samsung row about alleged copying of products, Nokia's desire to be original could really pay-off - with a Windows 8 tablet that doesn't adopt the iconic schoolroom slate design of the iPad.