Apple vs. Google Patent Disputes Dropped: iOS, Android Companies Reach Lawsuit Truce
Apple Inc. and Google have reportedly issued a truce on their global patent infringement claims against each other.
According to reports, Apple and Google informed the U.S. federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., to drop their cases on May 16. The truce includes the patent litigation between Apple and Google's Motorola Mobility division. Motorola originally sued Apple on patent infringement claims in 2010, which led to the iPhone maker to countersue. Google had inherited Motorola's lawsuits after the search-engine company purchased the company for $12.5 billion in 2012.
Apple and Google released a joint statement, stating they have also "agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform."
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As Reuters noted, the companies stated the agreement does not include cross licensing of their respective patents. Apple and Google did confirm to dismiss the litigation without prejudice, and the parties will cover their own costs and attorneys' fees. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple and Google were involved in 20 lawsuits in Germany and the U.S.
Apple and Google run two of the world's largest smartphone operating systems, iOS and Android, respectively. As Latin Post reported, iOS and Android commanded 97.6 percent of the joint Canadian and U.S. market share. iOS accounted for 53.1 percent while Android represented 44.5 percent of the data retrieved by web traffic per Chitika Insights in April.
Although Apple and Google resolved their patent disputes, it does not reflect on the ongoing lawsuits with Samsung. Samsung and Apple were recently involved in the second patent infringement trial from San Jose, California, where it was revealed Google helped pay for Samsung's legal defense fees. Emails exchanged between Google and Samsung were disclosed at the trial in April. Google's patent attorney James Maccoun confirmed the validity of the emails.
Maccoun stated the assistance in Samsung's defense fees were part of a "strategic agreement" with the South Korean-based company due to the "Mobile Application Distribution Agreement" (MADA). The MADA required Samsung to include Google apps on Galaxy devices.
The second patent infringement trial concluded on May 2 when Apple and Samsung were both found guilty of infringing certain patents. In the end, the court awarded Apple $119,625,000 while Samsung would get $158,400.
In January, Google announced it was selling Motorola Mobility's handset division to Chinese smartphone manufacturer Lenovo for $2.91 billion. Google, however, plans on keeping most of the patents involved with Motorola Mobility. The latest transaction is subject to standard regulatory requirements and approvals before finalizing.
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