Samsung and Apple Top Execs Mediation Fails; It's Back to Court Now

[dgstorm]

Samsung and Apple recently had a "meeting of the minds" for their top execs trying to hammer out some type of deal to stop or reduce the firestorm of patent disputes glutting up the court system. Unfortunately, the meeting proved unfruitful and now they are back to court. The meeting was held between Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and Samsung’s Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung who was also joined by the company’s mobile chief Shin Jong-Kyun.

Both parties could not reach an agreement on various “major issues,” including FRAND patents, or standard essential patents. Here's a quote from Reuters,

These are patents which Samsung agreed to license to competitors on fair and reasonable terms, in exchange for having the technology be adopted as an industry standard.

Some judges are reluctant to issue injunctions over such patents.

Apple believes those patents should be valued lower due to those dynamics, one of the sources said. Additionally, Samsung believes it has a stronger patent portfolio than Apple when it comes to next-generation technology like 4G, the source said.

Is anyone surprised that these negotiations broke down? Now it's back to the courtroom to find a reasonable solution. (Uh Oh...)

Sidenote: This isn't all of the Patent Wars news for today. Stay tuned for the next piece.

Source: Reuters