Apple and Samsung in Talks to Settle Patent Disputes Outside of Court

Apple and Samsung are reportedly in talks to have all future patent disputes settled outside of court, reports Kim Yoo-chul, a senior Samsung watcher at the Korea Times. This news comes just a few days after Google and Apple agreed to drop all of their lawsuits against each other.

Samsung has recently resumed working-level discussions with Apple and the key issue is how to dismiss all lawsuits, one source said, declining to be named.


In 2012, a jury awarded Apple with more than $1 billion in damages for Samsung's patent infringements, however that amount was later reduced to $930 million. Just last month a second trial awarded Apple with $120 million, but it had to pay Samsung $158,000 for its own patent infringements.

Foss Patents Florian Mueller believes things should begin wrapping up soon.

Things should come to an end during the summer, 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.

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