Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) have settled a patent lawsuit over smartphones and tablets in various geographies across the world. Both the companies have been locking horns for several years and the legal battles have juiced out millions of dollars from them without any clear winner in major mobile markets such as Japan, South Korea and Germany.
Apple, Samsung cases dropped, but not in U.S.
In a joint statement, the companies said that there has been a mutual consent over dropping all allegations against each other outside the United States. “This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in US courts,” smartphone makers said in a statement, reported first by Financial Times.
Countries, where Apple and Samsung have reached the agreement are Japan, Germany, South Korea, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, France excluding the United States, where Samsung will pay a damage of over $1 billion to Apple. Daniel Kim, an analyst at Macquarie, said that both the companies know that they will hardly benefit from these court battles.
After the agreement now, both Apple and Samsung will now focus their efforts on two California court trials, which are in appeals phase now. The latest development in the patents dispute came last week, when Apple let-go a cross-appeal against Samsung for a permanent injunction in infringement of certain IP.
Apple, Samsung fought hard
Even though both the companies have challenged each other multiple times in the court, Samsung is still an important supplier to Apple. No matter, how vigorously they try, neither of them could block the sales of other.
It began in 2011, when the iPhone maker dragged Samsung in the court for copying iPhone in the United States in 2011, and Samsung fired back by filing litigations against Apple is several other countries. Some of the court cases involved standard essential patents, which are detrimental to the technologies functioning of mobile phone rather than software and hardware designs or other distinctive features.
Previously, Samsung, Google and other smartphone makers were issued a warning in which EU competition commission said that using the standard essential patent to get a ban order on other rival phone makers is an abuse of market power.
