The patent war between tech giants Apple and Samsung has been raging almost as long as smartphones have existed. The two companies have been at loggerheads since April 2011. The battle took a dramatic turn last year when a US court ordered Samsung to pay Apple an astonishing $1,049bn USD over claims that Samsung stole Apple’s patents.
As one can imagine Samsung’s legion of lawyers put up a fight and managed to reduce the fine down to about $548m USD, still a hefty amount. Samsung has apparently agreed to pay the cash, and instead now the legal dispute has descended into haggling over payment terms. For example, Samsung wants guarantees that if the courts changes its mind it can get a refund on the payment.
These latest developments could spell the end of the patent war saga. Both agreed last year to drop all their patent lawsuits against each other that were being contested outside the US. The reason patents are so hotly contested is because it theoretically gives companies an exclusive right to pursue whatever ideas they’ve come up with. This is why companies will often patent the most absurdly obvious (such as “pull to refresh” on an email list) features.
Samsung is due to pay the outstanding fine by December 14th and it is anyone’s guess as to how the payment will be made. Maybe a few truck loads of coins?
Source: TechRadar
Follow Jaco on Twitter: @Jaco_vdWalt
