Though the patent drama has been long and a grueling battle between Apple and Samsung, the two companies have finally agreed upon something. Surprisingly, they have agreed to meet for a mediation meeting on February 19th 2014.
Apple and Samsung have been in many a patent dispute, so before the possible end of the war, lets take a look at where it all began. In 2011, Apple served the first papers, about not just one patent, but multiple patents that Samsung had infringed upon. For the most part, the patents had everything to do with design aspects of the iPhone. Since then, the suits have gone worldwide, totaling a number of over 50 lawsuits and that number has always been changing. All 50 lawsuits, between just Apple and Samsung, have covered the face of the earth practically going on a world tour.
Briefly, Apple had won the US, successfully banning certain Samsung devices. However, more recently, Samsung had won a temporary ban of certain Apple products in the US, but that was quickly overturned by the Federal Trade Commission. As for the cases in other countries, the battle mostly continues, save for Samsung’s victories in the UK, South Korea, and Japan.
The case in question here though, is in the US, and it’s the second lawsuit filed in the country by Apple against Samsung. The idea is the same, the difference here is the devices. This time Apple is calling out the 17 devices, which include the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy S III. However, before the trial begins in March of 2014, Judge Lucy Koh has thrown out an amazing idea that no one has ever heard of before, something called “mediation”.
The problem is that Samsung and Apple have gone to the mediation room before, and still did nothing for the outcome. Trials continued, and we all watched as the battle was fought. The information in the court filing, first brought to light by Reuters, the official mediation comes from both companies senior legal executives, who met early on in January 2014. That’s when they came up with the idea to have both CEO’s, Tim Cook, of Apple, and Oh-Hyun Kwon of Samsung, present for the mediation with a posse of up to 4 in-house counsel members. No outside counsel will be allowed, and we will just have to wait and see how nicely they can get along.
Until then, what are your thoughts on the mediation process that is coming, do you think they will actually come to a settlement, or will they just take it all the way?