Apple & Google Agree to Patent War Cease-Fire; Apple & Samsung in Talks for the Same

[dgstorm]

We might see the burning sea of Hades frozen over very soon. First, Apple and Google have agreed to drop all smartphone patent lawsuits. Here's a quote with the gist of it,

The two Silicon Valley technology giants said they are dropping lawsuits against one another and will work together to reform patent law. The suits to be dismissed involve patent disputes regarding Google’s Motorola Mobility handset unit. The deal doesn’t include Apple’s patent battles with Samsung Electronics Co.(005930), which uses Google’s Android software for mobile devices. ~ Bloomberg

Speaking of Samsung, the second portent teasing that a snowball might just survive in the underworld is that Apple and Samsung are also in negotiations to do the same thing. Of course, this has happened several times before, but the result always ended up with a continuation of the "Thermonuclear" patent war. Here's another quote suggesting things might be different this time,

After agreeing to a ceasefire with Google, Apple may soon find a way to settle all its disputes with Samsung out of court, The Korea Times has learned, as the two companies have recently agreed to resume settlement talks. This isn’t the first time Apple and Samsung have tried to solve their legal issues out of court, and put an end to a legal war that started more than three years ago, but the publication suggests things have changed since the last time they met.

“Samsung has recently resumed working-level discussions with Apple and the key issue is how to dismiss all lawsuits,” an unnamed source familiar with the matter said. “Some more time will be needed to fix terms of details such as royalty payments in return for using patents owned by each before reaching a full agreement.” ~ BGR

It's a crisp shock to see Google and Apple settle their differences, and it will be even more surprising to see if things can finally be worked out between Apple and Sammy. It will be a breath of cool fresh air (in Hell) to see an end to this useless patent war. Maybe everyone is starting to come to their senses and we can move forward with some meaningful patent reform.

 

[jspradling7]

There's gonna be a lot of pissed off lawyers. There has to be a bunch of them that are living a lifestyle only supportable by a continuation of the battles. A lot of paralegals are going to be looking for work.

 

[wicked]

This is pretty damn good news.

 

[94lt1]

YAY for innovation.. I hope