Recent reports suggest that top level executives from Apple and Samsung are looking to put an end to their ongoing patent dispute
Barely a week goes by without some new development in the ongoing legal battle between Samsung and Apple. And with legal cases that currently span the globe, the number of suits and countersuits have become exceedingly difficult to keep up with.
In Steve Jobs’ biography, the Apple co-founder famously said that he was willing to spend every last penny in Apple’s coffers to right the wrong that was Android. Jobs viewed Android as an overt ripoff of the iPhone and said he was willing to go “thermonuclear” to destroy Android.
But Apple’s efforts to weaken Android at the knees have thus far fallen short. And while upcoming cases may prove beneficial for Apple, Samsung in the interim is selling a boatload of Android devices each and every quarter.
That said, Apple CEO Tim Cook may have a more pragmatic and unemotional approach with respect to Samsung and the allegations that it has slavishly copied Apple’s intellectual property.
In a recent article for Businessweek, Paul Barrett reports that Apple and Samsung executives have been meeting lately to discuss potential settlement options.
People familiar with the situation, however, note that top-level executives at both Apple and Samsung have communicated lately about potential settlement options. Apple CEO Tim Cook does not seem to share his predecessor’s passion about laying all foes to waste. Cook appears to view litigation as a necessary evil, not a vehicle of cosmic revenge.
So perhaps a cross licensing agreement will happen sooner rather than later. Previous reports indicated that Apple was looking for about $15 for each Android device sold, a hefty amount to be sure and much larger than what Microsoft currently gets from other Android manufacturers.
So I guess we’ll see if Samsung and Apple can come to an agreement. After all, the only thing each respective company has really won at this point is an avalanche of legal bills.
