Apple, Samsung Renew Talks To Settle Massive Patent Battle
by Brent Dirks
July 19, 2013
In a somewhat surprising development, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple and Samsung have renewed talks to settle the massive patent battle between the two companies.
The talks began after Apple was victorious in its landmark suit against Samsung that ended last summer.
But the report said both sides don’t seem to be any closer to a resolution:
The negotiations included face-to-face meetings in Seoul, South Korea, in December, one document states. The two companies even appeared to come close to a settlement in February before talks cooled off. There is no indication that the two sides are close to a settlement, but talks between the companies are still going on, the people familiar with the discussions said. In the negotiations, described sparingly in heavily redacted documents from the U.S. International Trade Commission made public earlier this month and by people familiar with them, Samsung has pushed for a broad patent cross-licensing deal that could settle all outstanding litigation between the companies. It is unclear whether Apple was interested in such a deal.The relationship between the two companies has been rocky, to say the least, recently. While some reports said that Apple wants to cut its reliance on Samsung for its A-Series chips for iOS devices, the smartphone powerhouses still are making deals. As we reported earlier this week, Samsung will apparently supply the A9 processor to Apple starting in 2015. But in a hearing scheduled for early August, Apple is also planning on making its case on why certain Samsung devices should be permanently banned from the U.S. market.