UPDATED 23:09 EDT / JUNE 27 2018

APPS

Apple and Samsung’s seven-year design patent battle finally ends as they settle out of court

Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. have been slugging it out in the courts over alleged patent infractions for the best part of this decade, but that battle has finally come to its conclusion with Reuters reporting the two companies have settled the matter in private.

The technology giants agreed on their long-awaited truce this week in a filing to U.S. Northern District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who suffered the misfortune of presiding over the seven-year legal battle.

“Plaintiff Apple Inc. and defendants Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., and Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC would like to inform the court that they have agreed to drop and settle their remaining claims and counterclaims in this matter,” the filing reads.

Apple and Samsung have reportedly asked that all claims in the case be dismissed with prejudice, which means they cannot be refiled, and that both firms will cover their own legal costs. No other terms of the settlement were given.

The patent battle kicked off in earnest way back in 2011. Apple won the first round when the courts ordered Samsung to pay out $1 billion in compensation. But the Korean company refused to give up, launching a series of appeals that went all the way to the Supreme Court and then back to the District Court, with arguments about which patents were infringed upon and how much was owed constantly evolving.

The case centered on a number of design patents for basic smartphone functions such as the home screen grid design and the tap-to-zoom feature that’s common in all devices. More broadly, the legal fight was about whether or not Samsung had initially copied Apple’s earliest iPhone designs in order to gain an unfair advantage in the smartphone market. The jury in the case more or less decided it had, but the specifics of the case were taking far longer to iron out.

In the most recent verdict earlier this year, Judge Koh awarded Apple $539 million in damages, but once again Samsung moved to appeal that decision, as recently as this month. Now the companies have decided to end their legal shenanigans and get back to more important matters, like making phones.

Neither company would comment on why they only decided to come to terms now, but analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group told SiliconANGLE that it was likely a combination of weariness on both companies’ part, as well as concern within Apple’s leadership that the case could harm its reputation.

“Apple is involved in a number of potentially catastrophic IP lawsuits, with the Qualcomm effort representing a far bigger risk,” Enderle said. “They are starting to show up as anti-innovation and a major loss could freeze iPhone sales. This is unlikely, but if it were to happen, it would be catastrophic for revenue and valuation.”

Enderle also noted the recent trade war between President Donald Trump’s administration and other nations could have pushed Apple to settle. He noted that Samsung is a major supplier of components for Apple’s iPhones and other devices, and that with the U.S. strengthening tariffs, there’s a big risk that Samsung and South Korea could be singled out.

“As a result, both sides were motivated to settle and likely decided to walk away with either status quo or a token payment by Samsung,” Enderle said. “Tech companies often go through a litigation phase and then realize it is more aggravation and distraction than it is worth and settle down. It looks like we may be coming to the end of Tim Cook’s litigation phase.”

Image: William Cho/Pixabay

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