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back to article FINGERS CROSSED: Apple and Samsung said to be hammering out settlement

Apple and Samsung are reportedly in talks to settle all of their patent litigation cases, possibly bringing an end to the mobile giants' years-long international court battle. The Korea Times cited sources "directly involved in the matter" in reporting that the companies are negotiating "working-level discussions" with Apple …

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  1. stanimir
    Go

    Unfortunate turn of events?

    I still wonder what made those giants dropping the massive news spots the lawsuits ensured them. Practically no commercial breaks and the company names are heard, the newest models talked about and all that on a daily basis all over the globe.

    While litigation is definitely a costly endeavour one would think the massive news presence more than enough mak(d)e it for.

    There must be some bigger and invisible (yet) fish to try.

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    1. alwarming
      Reply Icon

      I don't want to say duopoly but

      ...isn't this a lot like Pepsi-Coke wars which created loyal fanbois (for sugared water!) and anyone else was practically wiped off the market ?

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    2. Captain Queeg
      Reply Icon

      Re: Unfortunate turn of events?

      Well, looking at it objectively, Apple here are the common denominator and the most litigious, so my guess is they've decided to draw a line.

      I guess the more interesting question is why? A number of options spring to mind - in no particular order:

      1.Fear of defeat - possible and with the precident it would set potentially very damaging.

      2.A genuine waking up and smelling the increasing expensive legal coffee - again possible but I think probably the most unlikely reason.

      3. Management time - Cook has talked about the next big thing being imminent and time spent in litigation is time spent away from what has to be more important stuff for Apple. Irrespective of the merits of whatever it is they're talking about launching, and it good be "insanely great" a turkey or anywhere in between, one thing I am sure of is that Cook won't want any distractions from it either internally or in the press, so by winding down hostilities he gets the most benign environment he can engineer to launch into.

      On the other hand it could just be coincidence.,.

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  2. Chris Miller

    That'll be a small army of lawyers out of work (if it happens). They'll either be crying into their Petrus, or else selecting a small Caribbean island to purchase with their accumulated fees.

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    1. FrankAlphaXII
      Reply Icon

      Hey look on the bright side, with Oracle on the legal warpath against Google and SAP still I'm sure it'll provide tens and maybe even hundreds of jobs to hardworking lawyers around the country producing tons of USDA Prime grade Bullshit.

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  3. Don Jefe

    Ha!

    God I'm good at this stuff. Maybe I'll take tomorrows winnings and buy a Giant Panda for dinner.

    As I foretold here: http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2014/05/17/its_over_apple_and_google_end_patent_war_over_motorola/#c_2190489

    Samsung has to get on the peace train because Google did. Until the companies leading the the headline patent cases there's zero justification for changing the system to cut back on trolling. If the big names are trolling each other then others trolling them is OK too.

    But if the big companies can resolve their issues the trolls can too. And it's the trolls who are the problem for everybody. Big companies suing each other is fairly like two countries warring on one another. Eventually the hostilities get sorted (usually) new trade arrangements are made and everybody acts like friends again.

    But trolls don't have a positive side. They add nothing to the equation. They don't even act as a conduit for funds, and those people are generally considered to be the smallest contributor in anything they'd involved in.

    Drown the trolls and prepare the panda.

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  4. Roger Stenning
    Coat

    It's the commercial version of...

    ..the Cold War. It'll be Brush Fire (litigation) battles all over the globe, until one of them falls over into bankruptcy, and the world suffers the fallout.

    Still, the longer it takes, maybe the milder the overall effects may be.

    All hail the Silicon Curtain!

    OK, sod it, reaching for my coat already ;-)

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  5. Salts

    Or...

    Here is an off the wall thought, Apple, Google & Samsung are about to gang up on Microsoft, one thing is for sure there is always method in the madness, only time will tell.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Or...

      Apple has had a cross licensing deal with Microsoft for ages, and Google and Samsung each have their own reasons why suing Microsoft would be a bad idea.

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    2. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Or...

      Maybe a beancounter worked out that the cost in lawyers' fees was outstripping the amount of cash to be gained from a victory

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  6. richmd

    I bet Apple have a patent for finger crossing.

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    1. VinceH
      Reply Icon

      And I bet that patent involves the finger crossing taking place in an unseen location, such as behind the back.

      But not on a mobile device.

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  7. Sanctimonious Prick
    Devil

    A.G. Bell

    Bet he'd have a few words on all this patent trolling if he were still around...

    1 1
  8. KiwiAndy

    Somebody demonstrating flexibility?

    Assuming the original report is true (reasonably large assumption), I wonder if Samsung's apparent lead in flexible screen tech has led to a softening in Apple's position. After all, Cupertino would not be amused if world and dog got to license the tech while they did not.

    Of course, it might just be my mind wandering into FantasyLand...

    3 1
  9. Mitoo Bobsworth
    Joke

    "... hammering out settlement"

    May I suggest using real, actual hammers? (Physical pain can be a great motivator)

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  10. John Tserkezis

    I call bullshit.

    For as long as there is financial incentive, there will be patent lawsuits. If you don't get them, they'll get you.

    In the rarer cases where there would be equal liability both ways, is the only time I would see a "truce". With mutual costs being about the same, they *BOTH* have more to lose in legal fees fighting it out, rather than just giving up and leaving it be.

    This is *purely* a financial move, don't think for a second they've magically become kinder.

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  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Motorola haven't been a target, they shot first.

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  12. Tim Bates

    Apple coming to a sensible agreement over patents? I doubt it. Their past history suggests the have a messed up view on the value of patents - ie, the ones they own are worth 10x what anyone else's are, regardless of the contents.

    2 1
  13. Tom 13

    Re: possibly bringing an end

    I'll wait to see.

    Looks to me more like a temporary pause in the modern version of the Hundred Years War.

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