Samsung and Apple renew settlement talks, but no deal yet

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Apple and Samsung have reportedly renewed settlement talks, in an effort to put an end to their ongoing, global litigation. Since 2011, the two tech giants have been involved in countless patent lawsuits, in over 10 countries.

Word of their resumed resolution efforts comes by way of The Wall Street Journal. Citing people familiar with the matter, the outlet says the two even came close to an agreement in February, but things have since cooled off…

From The Journal’s report:

“In the negotiations, described sparingly in heavily redacted documents from the U.S. International Trade Commission made public earlier this month and by people familiar with them, Samsung has pushed for a broad patent cross-licensing deal that could settle all outstanding litigation between the companies. It is unclear whether Apple was interested in such a deal.

The negotiations included face-to-face meetings in Seoul, South Korea, in December, one document states. The two companies even appeared to come close to a settlement in February before talks cooled off.”

Apple first accused Samsung of copying its products in a 2011 lawsuit, spawning battles in courtrooms around the globe as the two fought over patents and trademarked designs, with attempts to win cash settlements and injunctions.

The iPad-maker won its first major victory against Samsung last fall when a northern California trial jury found the Korean company guilty of infringing on several patents. The initial ruling awarded Apple over $1 billion in damages.

Samsung won a major battle of its own last month. As the result of one of its patent complaints to the International Trade Commission, the ITC has ordered a ban on some of Apple’s older products, which it’s currently trying to appeal.