Apple, HTC kiss and make up
A ten-year marriage of convenience
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
A small island of good sense has popped up in the tumultuous ocean of smartphone patents: Apple and HTC have quit their legal battles for now.
Specifics of the deal haven’t been announced, beyond a cessation of all legal action worldwide, along with a ten-year licensing agreement between the two companies, covering both present and future patents. The three-paragraph official announcement by Apple is available here.
The patent row between the two companies had been rolling on since 2010, with victories and reversals on both sides.
The agreement does involve HTC paying license fees to Apple, but the Taiwanese company says those payments won’t materially affect its balance sheet.
The settlement doesn’t reach beyond HTC, but it’s worth noting that to date, Apple hasn’t settled with any other smartphone maker using Google’s Android operating system.
Both companies issued bromides about focussing on innovation instead of litigation – although that’s qualified, in Apple’s case, by its ongoing lawsuits against Samsung, Google, and pretty much world+dog.
Taiwan’s government has welcomed the settlement, noting that HTC represents a sizeable chunk of the country’s IT exports, which have fallen for the last six months, says Focus Taiwan. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Android fragmentation is logarithmic
Logarithmic? This word, I don't think it means what you think it means…
Re: Android fragmentation is logarithmic
"no... victories against Apple products"
Been living under a rock these last few weeks, yes?
Re: Android fragmentation is logarithmic
Additional to SolidSoup:
- Apple also got sued for $350 few days ago (yeap lost a patent battle)
- Lost iPhone trademark in Mexico
- AFAIK getting there arse whooped in Sales by Samsung (you brought them in to this)
- Are about to have as many as 20 of the most contreversial patents cancelled (some of which were used against Samsung in the $1billion suit)
- The German court decision should never have existed in the first place as the UK had ruled on it
- In South Korea (some sense prevailed!) and BOTH companies got hit with tiny fines and told to get on with it and stop wasting everyones time
So when you think about it, it's actually really bad days for Apple.... guess you really do reap what you sow.
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