Delaware courts have have called for delegates from HTC and Apple to meet on August 28 to talk about settling the patent dispute that has blocked the U.S. import of some HTC handsets. This appears to be fallout from the pending lawsuit Apple brought against HTC through the International Trade Commission over a “data tapping” patent. Apple has been ordered into similar settlement talks with Samsung.
The meeting will be overseen by Magistrate Judge Sherry R. Fallon. It’s not clear exactly who the companies will be sending, but the court order says that they ”must have full authority to act on behalf of the parties, including the authority to negotiate a resolution of the matter and to respond to developments during the mediation process.”
So, it doesn’t sound like either company will be sending “Skippy”, the intern from accounting in for the sit down. In Apple’s case, it would likely be someone like CEO Tim Cook, or its lead counsel.
The ITC ban against HTC went into effect on April 19th, 2012. The claim of infringement was made on U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647, a “system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data.”
HTC stated that the cause of the infringement ruling “is a small UI experience and HTC will completely remove it from all of our phones soon.”
HTC is now shipping custom versions of Android on its phones, in an apparent end-run attempt to get around the ban.
The ordered meeting will happen just a few days before the scheduled meeting between Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Gee-Sung Choi in San Francisco. That meeting will be overseen by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero.
The lawsuits between Apple and the Android manufacturers continue to drag on with no end currently in site. While I enjoy reporting on the legal wranglings of the tech giants, (I just love learning new legal lingo…) I’m sure some weary of the constant legal struggles, and just wish the companies would tend to the business of making kick-ass phones! What’s your opinion, dear reader? Let us know. Do you want everyone to sit down and make nice? Or, are you like me, and just love getting to see behind the scenes as evidence continues to be revealed? Leave a comment below.