The Patent Wars have continued to rage between Apple and Samsung lo these many years. (Ok, a little over two years.) Settlements, and rumors of settlements have been whispered of across the countryside. Yet, as the battles continue to rage, all hope of a settlement is lost. Or is it?
The bulk of the battles have been between Apple and Samsung; representing its own hardware as well as the Android operating system, Samsung has been viewed as not only a proxy for Google, but also as a direct competitor to Apple. Before all of this courtroom wrangling started, however, Samsung and Apple were fast friends in the boardroom; Apple orders a great deal of internal components from Samsung and, in doing so, has become Samsung’s largest customer.
From the beginning of the legal battle between the two companies there has been hope of a settlement. Last year saw CEO’s of both companies ordered to the settlement table, yet no end to the legal battles resulted. In the meantime, Apple has settled with HTC last year, and Apple and Google are rumored to be talking settlement once more. But what of Samsung? Will the battle continue to be waged?
USA Today is reporting that Apple and Samsung “are quietly working toward a wide-ranging settlement agreement that could remedy multitudes of patent disputes related to wireless device technology.”
Is it once again possible to believe in peace? To dream once more of a day when no more legal blood will be shed between the two companies, and their lawyers bank accounts will no longer swell?
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t subscribe to former CEO Steve Jobs’ “thermonuclear” approach to the legal battles against Android, and may indeed welcome a settlement that would allow both Apple and Samsung hold their heads high.
As for Samsung, well, there is that $1 billion check they may have to write to Apple some day, so any kind of agreement that might let them save both face and money would most likely be appealing to the South Korean firm.
The rumors of an upcoming settlement between Apple and Samsung may be just that, rumors. Unsubstantiated, fleeting. Merely adding to the same rumor pile that contains stories of 13-inch iPad screens, fingerprint sensors, and colorful plastic iPhones.
But, wouldn’t it be nice to see a settlement take place, and then the two companies could go back to duking it out where they belong. In the arena of the consumer marketplace.
