Katie Marsal
Citing a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported on Monday that Cook is set to engage with Samsung CEO Kwon Oh Hyun in private talks on the telephone. Lawyers representing Apple and Samsung will report on the outcome of those talks to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh.
Cook last met with the CEO of Samsung in May, but no resolution came about from those discussions and the trial between the two parties started in late July. Cook last spoke with Geesung Choi, president and chief executive of Samsung's digital media division, while the latest talks are said to involve Oh Hyun, the company's new CEO.
Oh Hyun was named chief executive of Samsung in June, and was immediately viewed as an Apple-friendly choice. Some industry watchers felt Samsung's choice of Oh Hyun was a sign that the Korean electronics maker was attempting to retain Apple as a customer for parts like mobile processors, flash memory and displays, even though Apple and Samsung remain bitter rivals.
The latest last-ditch talks between Apple and Samsung come as jurors in the California trial are awaiting a streamlined work sheet that will allow them to potentially enter a verdict in the patent infringement suit. Both Apple and Samsung have accused the other of violating patented inventions related to product design, software development and wireless communications standards.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook.
If a resolution cannot be reached in the talks between Cook and Oh Hyun, deliberations are expected to begin with the jury as soon as Tuesday.
Koh asked both parties to discuss a settlement last week, saying it was "time for peace." But lawyers representing each side made a joint filing on Saturday stating they had failed to narrow their dispute through those last-minute discussions.
Koh had hoped the parties would at least narrow their claims if a complete out-of-court settlement could not be reached. She felt a winnowing of claims would make it easier for jurors to come to a decision in the complex case.
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
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48 Comments
These two companies are so closely tied together Apple should be able to gain from Samsung a public acknowledgment and large settlement, along with a cross-licensing agreement (similar to the one with Microsoft, where they're not allowed to clone Apple's products) in exchange for Apple's continued reliance on Samsung for future parts. Samsung's long-term success should be it's CEOs primary concern. If they know they're in the wrong here, there shouldn't be too much of a hit to honour or ego in taking this approach and they can move on by empowering their designers to blaze new trails.
I really hope that this can get settled out of court. Let's face it, both sides have at least a couple of valid arguements, although personally I do feel that a select few Samsung products, not all of the ones listed in this case, do come a little too close to copying. But I think cross-licensing would be the best solution here. Apple doesn't lose face if they can get a good deal on some of Samsung's patents, and Samsung could save face and hopefully retain some of Apple's production demands in their factories.
However, the realist in me says that this will go down to the jury, and regardless of which side they choose to "win" this case will drag on for a couple more years in appeals and counter-suits.
They should seriously settle. By the time Case Reviews, Appeals, Appeal reviews, etc will end in this case, multitude of years would have passed and legal fees itself would be greater than any potential award to any party.
2.5 billion will do no good to Apple balance sheet nor 500 million to Samsung's. Samsung has moved away from Apple designs from nexus and s3, and they are still competitive as per recent sales figures, quarterly revenues and profits.
Apple has achieved what it wanted. If by any chance, Apple loses this case, hell will break loose with copy cat products sprouting everywhere.
Apple should understand that message is already delivered to Android camp. By stretching this case, they risk many things, a, Risk of patents being held invalid b, Risk of scope of patents getting too narrowed to avoid copy cat products c, Risk of very less damage award. It will have an opposite effect of what Apple wants.
I agree they should find a settlement outside of court. I still feel the bigger issue for Apple is Google and Steve's 'Thermo Nuclear War' on IP theft in the software area.
[quote name="smack416" url="/t/152028/apple-samsung-ceos-to-hold-last-minute-lawsuit-settlement-talks#post_2171458"]These two companies are so closely tied together Apple should be able to gain from Samsung a public acknowledgment and large settlement, along with a cross-licensing agreement (similar to the one with Microsoft, where they're not allowed to clone Apple's products) in exchange for Apple's continued reliance on Samsung for future parts. Samsung's long-term success should be it's CEOs primary concern. [B] If they know they're in the wrong here[/B], there shouldn't be too much of a hit to honour or ego in taking this approach and they can move on by empowering their designers to blaze new trails.[/quote] That's a really big IF.