Apple, Samsung Fail to Reach Patent Deal

As expected, Samsung and Apple have failed to negotiate a settlement in advance of a yet another trial in their long-running patent fight.

According to a report filed with a California district court, executives met early in the week to discuss a resolution, but did not find common ground.

In January, the tech giants agreed to meet with a mediator in the hopes of coming to an agreement ahead of next month’s trial. But no one really thought a deal would actually happen; both sides have been ordered into talks prior to earlier trials, but to no avail. Still, Apple representatives held more than six phone conferences with the mediator, while Samsung had at least four, the filing said. “Notwithstanding these efforts, the mediator’s settlement proposal to the parties was unsuccessful,” the filing said, adding that both companies “remain willing to work through the mediator jointly.”

Executives in attendance at the Feb. 18 meeting include Apple CEO Tim Cook, general counsel Bruce Sewell, chief litigation counsel Noreen Krall, and chief IP counsel BJ Watrous, as well as Samsung’s CEO, JK Shin, IP center heads Seung-Ho Ahn and Ken Korea, CFO HK Park, and heads of licensing Injung Lee and James Kwak.

In August 2012, Apple was awarded $1.05 billion by a California jury, a sum that was later reduced to about $900 million. Now, both companies are back for more in the same California court, in a case that covers newer devices that were not eligible to be included in the first trial.

The case dates back to 2011, when Apple fired the first shot, and it has since expanded to dozens of courts around the globe.

Source: pcmag.com