Follow the smartphone market for long enough, and certain things come to be expected: who’s going to release a new version of what, when, and so forth. And just as we look forward to a new iPhone (or this year, iPhones) in the fall, we’ve also come to expect a perpetual legal struggle between certain companies. Apple and Samsung are easily the biggest targets here, and it’s rare that one case wraps up before we hear of another one nearing trial. But after all this bickering over patents, could Samsung and Apple finally be learning to live with each other? We’ve still got a long way to go, but word is that progress could be headed in that direction, as the two firms focus on ending their disputes.
Sources indicate that Apple and Samsung are getting tired of the bickering over “secondary points” and negotiations over these patent issues are beginning to cut through all the distractions and focus on what has to happen for there to be a practical solution. Effectively, we may be looking at a truce of sorts.
This claim follows Apple and Samsung dropping cross-appeals for an older patent case involving touchscreen and headset technologies. We also hear that Apple may be trying to keep on Samsung’s good side as it moves into wearables and develops an appetite for the OLED screens Samsung’s capable of producing.
While it would certainly be lovely to see the two companies bury the hatchet, we have to face the reality that any shift is likely to be a long, drawn-out process; we’re looking at a number of different legal actions, concerning a bunch of devices and individual patents, all going back years and years; this isn’t something you just turn off like a faucet. As such, we’ll be keeping an eye on where things go from here.
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