Samsung, Apple Agree To Try Mediation In Patent Disputes 70
An anonymous reader writes "The smartphone and tablet rivals will work with a mediator in an effort to settle their patent disputes in advance of a second trial on the issues scheduled for this spring, according to Bloomberg News. The agreement, filed in federal court in San Jose today, was in response to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh's request in November that both sides submit a settlement discussion proposal before trial. Senior legal executives at the companies met Jan. 6 to discuss 'settlement opportunities,' according to the proposal. The companies agreed to retain a mediator 'who has experience mediating high profile disputes,' according to the filing, which doesn't name the person. The chief executive officers and three to four company lawyers, but no outside lawyers, will attend the mediation before Feb. 19, according to the filing."
Customer not Competitor (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Customer not Competitor (Score:2, Interesting)
The Samsung IC business relationship between these two is an order of magnitude more important than any lost sales from competition. Whether or not they settle on silly frilly patent disputes will not change that fact one iota.
Samsung if anything is not stupid. They have leveraged OSS on just about every device they make, especially smart tvs. Funny but their lines like many others do include OSS licence links right through the menu options. My question is if they settle in a circle jerk with Apple will they then be given a free pass as the Rockstar Consortium starts to go after all the sheep that microsoft already have sheared or will the patent wars heat up instead? If Apple and the cooked up US justice system beats them up badly enough will they bend over and keep taking it up the patoot? Sony uses OSS almost as much as Samsung, and LG is up there too. But the interesting question is what is going on behind the scene. The Apple VS Samsung war might just turn out to be a smoke screen if I am right about what the Rockstar Consortium is all about. I have a sinking feeling that cell phones are only the tip of the iceburg when it comes to the patent wars. Essentially OSS has taken over the embedded market especially on devices like Smart TVs. It would make perfect sense if Microsoft, Apple and Sony try a power play against all the competition in this market. MS failed in the entertainment market with ZUNE, NBC, and Apple and Sony is scared shitless of loosing their lead in the music sales market so they make strange bedfellows. But it would not surprise me at all if this Rockstar bullshit comes out of the woodwork and screws over everybody so that Apple, Sony and Microsoft can profit from every device that makes noises and pictures.
Either way things turn out for Samsung they win, but perhaps the digital entertainment industry except for those willing to pay an extra tax to this consortium will be pushed out of the industry in the long run because of software patents. Companies like Toshiba, Panasonic. LG etc are very vulnerable and we might see a global concentration of the market into the hands of four companies in the very near future. I would not be shocked if the sudden rise of Android devices is not followed by a radical demise if these assholes succeed in their quest to completely dominate the digital communication and entertainment industry.