• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

Apple, Google call truce in smartphone patent war

Desire

Alfrescian
Loyal

Apple, Google call truce in smartphone patent war

Technology giants cease long-running litigation over smartphone systems and agree to work together on patent reform

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 17 May, 2014, 11:04am
UPDATED : Saturday, 17 May, 2014, 11:04am

Agence France-Presse in San Francisco

japan_patent_apple_samsung_kma03_42951019.jpg


A pedestrian using a smartphone walks past an Apple Store in Tokyo. Apple and Google have ended current lawsuits over patent violations. Photo: EPA

The technology titans behind the top two smartphone platforms in the world called a truce on Friday in a long-running patent war.

“Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that exist directly between the two companies,” the firms said in a joint statement.

“Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform.”

The companies made it clear that the detente does not include licensing their technology to each other.

Motorola filed a patent lawsuit against Apple in US federal court four years ago, prompting the iPhone maker to respond with a patent suit of its own.

Litigation has spread to more than a dozen other courts.

Google took on the legal wrangling when it bought Motorola Mobility in 2012 in what was seen at the time as a move to use its patents for defending Android operating software in the increasingly litigious smartphone and tablet markets.

Early this year, Google agreed to sell Motorola Mobility to China-based computer giant Lenovo. The sale has yet to be completed.

California-based Apple has been battling smartphone competitors in courts around the world, accusing rivals using Google’s Android software of copying features from its popular mobile devices.

The legal truce between Apple and Google does not take the pressure off South Korea-based Samsung, which has been a prime legal target for the maker of iPhones and iPads.

A Japanese court ruled earlier that Samsung could seek minimal damages from Apple for patent infringement, with both sides claiming victory in the their latest legal skirmish over the design of their smartphones.

france-internet-google_3956_42914827_0.jpg


A person prepares to search the internet using the Google search engine. Photo: AFP

Japan’s Intellectual Property High Court ruled that Samsung could claim 9.96 million yen (HK$760,000) from its US arch-rival for use of Samsung’s data transmission technology, found to have been used in Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad 2.

Early this month in California’s Silicon Valley, jurors at a different patent trial held the line on its US$119.6 million damages award to Apple in a patent battle with Samsung.

While the amount of the award is huge, it is only a fraction of the more than US$2 billion Apple had sought at the outset of the trial against is South Korean competitor in the hot smartphone and tablet computer market.

Jurors agreed that Samsung violated three of five Apple patents at issue in the two-month trial.

Jurors also found that Apple violated a Samsung patent and said Apple should pay its rival US$158,400 in damages.

Samsung lawyers maintained that the legal onslaught emerged from a “holy war” Apple declared on Google-made Android software used to power smartphones.

The argument evidently struck a chord with members of the panel who remarked after the verdict that Apple and Google should deal with their mobile gadget patent issues face to face instead of the Cupertino-based company attacking Android device makers in courts.

The truce did not touch on Apple patent lawsuits aimed at Google partners who make Android-powered smartphones or tablets.

The outcome in the recent Silicon Valley trial pitting Apple against Samsung was sharply different from a 2012 patent trial in the same court. Unlike the previous case in which Apple was a clear winner, this time Samsung prevailed in many areas.

In August 2012, a separate jury in the same court decided that Samsung should pay Apple US$1,049 billion in damages for illegally copying iPhone and iPad features, in one of the biggest patent cases in decades.

The damage award was later trimmed to US$929 million and is being appealed.

 
Top