Courtroom Battles Between Apple And Samsung Could Soon Be Over

Apple and Samsung may be close to a patent agreement, according to the Korea Times. This news comes just days after Apple and Google agreed to a settlement that will end all pending patent litigation between the two companies. Citing “people directly involved,” the reports says that talks have begun to settle future patent disputes out of court. “Things should come to an end during the summer,” explains FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller. Earlier this month, a California jury found Samsung guilty of infringing several of Apple’s key patents. It awarded Cupertino $119.6 million in damages, which Samsung plans to appeal. Says Muller:

Apple doesn't have an endgame strategy. Its agreement with Google shows that its management is looking for a face-saving exit strategy from Steve Jobs' thermonuclear ambitions that were based on a totally unrealistic assessment of the strength of Apple's patent portfolio.

On Saturday, Apple and Google called a truce to their longstanding patent disputes. They are expected to instead work together on aspects of patent reform. As Joe White reported:

As you may remember, when Google purchased handset-maker Motorola Mobility in 2011 the search engine giant inherited a legal dispute with Apple. Cupertino had been at loggerheads with Motorola since 2010 due to patent infringement concerning the following devices: Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq, Cliq XT, BackFlip, Devour A555, Devour i1, and Charm 1. Now, however, Apple and Google’s patent warfare is reportedly no more. The surprising news comes from Reuters, which cites a recent court filing indicating that Apple and Google have agreed to a settlement that sees all pending patent litigation between the two companies dismissed.

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