Apple and Samsung have issued a joint statement today announcing an agreement to drop all patent lawsuits against each other outside of the United States, according to Bloomberg.
“Apple and Samsung have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States,” the companies said in the statement. “This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in U.S. courts.”
The move is yet another signal that the long-running patent dispute between Apple and Samsung may be winding down, as it was reported in June that the two companies were trying to find "common ground". The two also agreed to drop their cross-appeal rulings on the ITC ban of older Samsung phones around the same time.
In May, it was reported the two were looking to negotiate an out-of-court settlement. And earlier this year, it was reported that Tim Cook sat down with Samsung Electronics CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon in a mediation session. However, the two sides did not come to an agreement at that time.
Apple has already settled patent disputes with other companies, like Google / Motorola Mobility in May of this year and HTC back in 2012.
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Apple: let's stop the suits
Samsung : I agree
Apple : great!
Samsung : now can you stop copying us?
Apple: I guess
Me: Are you trying to be funny?
You: I guess, but I'm failing miserably, eh?
http://www.dailytech.com/Samsung+Galaxy+Alpha+Specs+Leaked+Compared+to+Apple+iPhone+5S+in+Pictures/article36346.htm
Negotiations probably went like this.
Apple: lets stop the suits
Samsung: Okay
Apple: So can you stop copying us from today onward at least?
Samsung: No, we just finished getting the iPhone 5 copy ready though. How about next year?
Are you serious? A chamfered edge? I despise this company.
And whole lot more. Typical strawman, pick one element, point out it's not a big deal (previous example: rounded corners). This would be true if it were the only design element copied, but it isn't. You're just ignoring all the other similar elements that when combined, result in a remarkably similar device.