Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Electronics CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon have agreed to attend a mediation session on or before February 19, in advance of a March court battle over smartphone patents, reports Reuters.

apple_samsung_logos

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon will attend the session with in-house lawyers only, according to a Wednesday court filing. Their legal teams had met on January 6 to "discuss settlement opportunities," the filing read.

In late December, The Korea Times reported the two companies had resumed settlement talks in their ongoing negotiations over their patent-infringement dispute and that Samsung Mobile CEO Shin Jong-Kyun could be heading to the United States to meet with Cook.

Cook had met with former Samsung CEO Choi Gee-Sung in 2012 to discuss the subject, but talks fell through because Samsung would not accept Apple's patent royalties demand. The two companies also met last year in Seoul, Korea but discussions failed to progress.

This is yet another turn in the long, ongoing patent battle between Samsung and Apple, which began in 2011 and continued into 2012 when Apple was awarded $1 billion in damages in a U.S. trial. A judge voided nearly half of that award in March 2013, and then ruled in November 2013 that Samsung was to pay Apple $290 million for willfully violating multiple patents. Another infringement lawsuit between the two companies will be held on March 31, with another trial centering around Apple's call for a U.S. ban on Samsung products. This is all in addition to other patent trials between the two companies taking place all over the world.

Top Rated Comments

N64 Avatar
150 months ago
Part of the reason I sold my AAPL kinda recently: Samsung gets to rip Apple off without any significant punishment. Even if they got hit with the $1G bill, it wouldn't really matter. Not even necessarily patent infringement but careful copying, things that they'll get away with or won't take much of a penalty for in court. Meanwhile Apple gets its public image hurt when they sue.

"You can't patent the rectangle." Sorry for probably being the 1000th visitor to use this:


No way to prevent them from doing this. Some of it is just following a trend that Apple set, something that Apple has done to other companies. But I don't care about who's right and who's wrong, just who makes the money.

Someone on MR posted this earlier. I was shocked:
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
springsup Avatar
150 months ago
If I were Tim, I would still pursue an injunction so that there are some more immediate, enforceable consequences should Samsung violate the anti-cloning agreement. Those injunctions are about specific patents and features, so it ties in to the anti-cloning clause.

It wouldn't surprise me if a dispute broke out about that clause sooner or later. In that case Samsung would have successfully reset the legal proceedings and bought themselves substantially more time.

An injunction (over, say, the rubber-banding effect) would be a clear statement to Samsung: we own all of this Intellectual Property, we have demonstrated your infringement and have the power to stop your current implementation of it. However, we will not enforce that injunction as long as you agree to this contract not to clone our products (however that's defined - the contract is confidential so I don't know), and pay royalties for what you do use.

All of that is necessary because of Samsung's poor conduct. Their copying has been far more reckless and widespread than any other Android OEM (such as HTC), and they have constantly stalled and delayed the legal process, bringing things like SEPs in to the mix (which did not exactly please the EU competition authorities).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dec. Avatar
150 months ago

Should Braun start suing Apple, due to very similar designs?

While some of the comparisons definitely show influences in basic shapes and materials - and more, in the case of the calculator - I'll always ask myself how drunk someone has to be to compare the Braun speaker to the iMac. It's pretty bizarre...

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
genzeleam Avatar
150 months ago
Apple will just keep slamming Samsung because they're 100% in the right and they know it. Samsung had better figure it out and come up with something original. That's easier said than done, though, considering Samsung's never come with anything original in the mobile market.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BC2009 Avatar
150 months ago
The patent troll case better be over.

RE: Patent Troll

I don't think that phrase means what you think it means.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xVeinx Avatar
150 months ago
I think it's in both companies best interests to see this settled. Nothing is gained by either in this process. Besides, the new Samsung interface more closely resembles Windows Phone, so Apple has less to worry about now...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...