back to article Apple, Samsung call off all patent spats outside United States

Apple and Samsung have put a stop to their intellectual property disputes in the eight nations where they were paying lawyers, but will keep splashing the cash on legal eagles in the US of A. In a joint statement, the Korean chaebol and fruity chomp brand said: "Samsung and Apple have agreed to drop all litigation between the …

  1. Denarius
    Meh

    Next in the news

    reports of famine striking lawyer colonies outside USA This cannot be allowed to continue, UN to intervene.

  2. hammarbtyp

    Stars and Stripes

    Probably realised that there was little likelihood of getting the type of relief in foreign courts that they would the in the US, especially if they draped the stars and stripes over the phone (Ignoring the fact that the phones are made in China and the profits stay in the Cayman Isles).

  3. Schultz
    Coat

    Strange decision...

    After all they have LOTS of money sitting abroad that could be used to pay foreign lawyers, but that can't be used to pay off the shareholders. Also, this will undermine the credibility of their thermonuclear judicial war, will they abandon Steve Job's legacy?

  4. g e

    I am right remembering

    That USA is apple's main market?

    Perhaps the droid/other market share abroad has grown so large that it's not worth funding the litigation (won't someone think of the lawyers??). Plus 'abroad' doesn't have the USPTO and all 'specialness' that entails... (They ditched all the non-domestic battles they didn't think likely to win without that particular 'specialness', perhaps)

    A possible sign of El Reg's "Peak Apple" ? Surely someone didn't just simply sit down and do maths of all the lawyers' bills vs revenue/potential gains, that's would be too, well, sensible and non-thermo-nukuler.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    or maybe ...

    ... Samsung has realised that they are not making enough money on the theft to warrant the continued litigation and are retiring from the ring?

    Apple is not the first company to go toe-to-toe with Samsung, but they are one with the financial and ideological where-with-all to go the full distance, something Samsung has traditionally speculated in their victims NOT possessing

    1. VinceH
      Trollface

      Re: or maybe ...

      ... SamsungApple has realised that they are not making enough moneywinning enough fights with Samsung elsewhere on the theft their on-a-mobile-device-etc guff to warrant the continued litigation and are retiring from the ring?

      FTFY!

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