After a year of battling it out in court, Intertrust agreed to settle its lawsuit against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over patent infringement. However, the settlement terms were not disclosed.
A closer look at Apple’s latest lawsuit
According to The Wall Street Journal, Intertrust initially filed the lawsuit in March 2013. The company took the step after long talks with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over multiple collaboration possibilities, but failed to make an agreement. The company’s first complaint was that Apple infringed on 15 patents which included iPhones, Mac computers, and iPads. The lawsuit was later expanded to 23 patents. Apple denied infringing the patents.
Both companies told United States District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers that the companies had reached a settlement.
Apple’s lawsuit with Samsung
Apple is often the subject of lawsuits, although just as often it is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) doing the litigation. One of the company’s biggest battles is with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930). Both companies claim the other company stole patents. As the tech titans continue the fight to remain in the lead, it doesn’t look like the legal battles will slow down anytime soon.
Time Magazine reported, “Apple’s original lawsuit against Samsung was unique because it included design patents. Unlike the lawsuits Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has filed against HTC Corp (TPE:2498), Motorola and other vendors, Apple argued that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) was ripping off the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad, not just a few software features.”
The jury for that lawsuit found Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) was guilty of infringing on Apple’s smartphones, but not the company’s tablets. However, Samsung did change the overall look of the third generation Galaxy S phone which helped the company differentiate their phones. This change created a noticeable impact on the case, and it actually happened before the entire case was wrapped up. The older phones were already outdated by the time the trial finished, so even if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) succeeded in having the smartphones removed from the market, it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway.
