Samsung has won its case to get Apple and HTC to share its patent settlement; an important development which could determine if any of Samsung’s latest products get banned by Apple. According to Samsung, if Apple is happy for competitors to use its patents with royalties, then the injunction is not justified.
According to The Verge, Apple’s attorneys were happy to share everything about the agreement – except for the financial terms of the settlement. While the US judge presiding the matter was sceptical of Samsung’s reasoning, he did order Apple to turn over the document. However, the settlement document has been placed under “Attorneys-Eyes-Only” – which basically means, Samsung’s lawyers can only see it, not its executives.
Meanwhile, FOSS Patents has found a public version of the settlement – which he found “in a place where few people look for this kind of information”. It reveals that the agreement does include HTC-owned S3 Graphics and VIA Technologies (who were also suing Apple but now has a separate settlement agreement; and many viewed VIA’s patents suits as an extension of HTC’s lawsuits). The big point of the agreement, however, is that the deal terminates early if HTC is bought out by another party.
Samsung and Apple’s injunction hearing is set for December 6. Can we expect to hear more about this settlement?