Apple, Samsung agree to mediation in US patent battle

NEW YORK, USA: The chief executives of Apple and Samsung have agreed to attend a mediation session by mid-February to discuss their legal battle over smartphone patents according to court documents.

10 Jan 2014

Apple and Samsung have agreed to mediation in a major patent case unfolding in the US. Image: Apple

Senior legal executives from both companies met to "discuss settlement opportunities," read a filing to the US District Court in San Jose that is handling the patent case.

It said Apple's chief executive Tim Cook and his Samsung counterpart Kwon Oh-Hyun would attend the session that would be overseen by a jointly chosen mediator on or before 19 February, along with three or four in-house attorneys each. No outside lawyers will be allowed.

This is not the first time Apple and Samsung have sought a settlement out of court. But a court-imposed mediation session in May 2012 failed to produce results. The two electronics companies are set to do battle in court in March.

US District Judge Lucy Koh had asked that the two firms make a mediation proposal before the March trial. Samsung, the world's biggest manufacturer of smartphones, has been ordered to pay Apple more than US$900m after a retrial on some of the issues in the case.

But the case, one of several being played out in courts and administrative agencies around the world, has not dented sales of Samsung, which has vaulted ahead of Apple in many markets on a global scale.

And last month, Apple asked the court to bar US sales of Samsung smartphones and tablet computers in the blockbuster patent case.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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