Samsung and Apple have mutually agreed to end their legal disputes involving long-running patent battles outside the US.
Samsung, the Korean leader in smartphones, and Apple, Samsung's biggest rival in the business, have agreed to end their patent disputes outside the United States. This is the first step for both companies in scaling down the long-drawn-out legal battle between the smartphone giants. Samsung and Apple released a joint statement confirming the global cease-fire around the world except in the US, where the current litigations will continue.
"Apple and Samsung have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States," both companies said in a joint statement, Wall Street Journal reports. "This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in U.S. courts."
The legal battle between the two largest smartphone makers in the world goes back to 2011, when Apple originally sued Samsung in the U.S. for copying the features of its iPhone. Samsung then filed lawsuits in several countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and the U.K. with claims of patent infringement. Apple was accused of infringing some of Samsung's wireless transmission patents.
The decision to drop all litigations against each other will put an end to the patent disputes between Samsung and Apple in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain and the United Kingdom. But the continuation of the legal battle in the US is a significant one. Apple's lawsuits against Samsung in the U.S. have largely favored the Cupertino-based tech giant. Out of a massive $2.2 billion lawsuit claim against the Korean tech giant, Apple has been awarded with $119 million by California jury in May, reports Forbes. In the last two years, Apple has received nearly $930 million by Samsung in a ruling ordered by the San Jose, California, federal court.
In January, both companies attempted to resolve their differences through mediation. Apple CEO Tim Cook met top Samsung executives but there was no outcome. Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District court in San Jose, California, who is overseeing the lawsuits between the two companies in the US, was hoping for a settlement before a legal trial. The companies have filed over 40 patent suits against each other in the last three years.
"The U.S. litigation is the most important. There is the most at stake. Apple in particular is hesitant to let it go," Michael Carrier, a patent-law expert and law professor at Rutgers University, told WSJ in a statement. "I think Apple is coming to the realization step by step that this litigation is not worth it."
Apple has also targeted other tech companies and filed lawsuits against Nokia in 2009, HTC and Google in 2010. Of late, the tech giant has been scaling down on its legal disputes as it made peace with Google in May and now Samsung.
