It appears that tech rivals Apple and Samsung are, once again, trying to come together to reach a deal for a possible patent accord, according to new reports from the Korea Times.
Despite two years of intense legal battles, the two companies have started discussing ways to ink a fair royalties deal that would put an end to all of the litigation. The source for the information is apparently a Korea Fair Trade Commission official who claims that the talks are in their "working-level" stage right now and the companies are currently attempting to reduce "differences over royalty payments."
A Korean regulator is also working with American and European antitrust watchdogs to aid in getting these two to some kind of deal. According to CNET, Apple and Samsung have been suing each other all over the world for the past few years over various infringements on the design of smartphones.
Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Electronics chief Choi Gee-sung made an attempt at coming to an agreement but the two failed in their patent dispute after it lasted 17-hours with no results. Since that time, Apple has gained some leverage by winning an important patent infringement case in the United States, which CNET suggests might have prompted Samsung to retry finding some kind of agreement. The case along could see Apple net $890 million.
Currently, the hang up for the negotiations seems to have to do with each company thinking the other is being unfair in terms of how much value they want placed on the overall settlement. Samsung is willing to enter into a "cross-licensing" deal with Apple, where both companies could get their intellectual property for a set price. Apple however, is requiring Samsung to pay a more than $30 fee for every device found to be in violation of its patents, according to the report from the Korea Times.
In the event that these negotiations fail, the companies are looking at another long legal battle. So far neither of the two companies has confirmed if these talks are actually happening or not.
