Judge orders Samsung, Apple to resolve patent fight through talks

2012-04-19

With both Samsung and Apple locked in fierce court battles over patent infringement, a judge has ordered the two sides to talk in an effort to settle their patent fight.

50f366e0639d2daa.jpg

The chief executive officers and general counsels of Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. have been ordered to attend a settlement conference before a federal court in San Jose, California.

"The parties have indicated that they are willing to participate in a Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference (MJSC)," Judge Lucy Koh wrote in a Tuesday court filing.

The conference would include Apple's Tim Cook and Samsung's Gee-Sung Choi.

Both companies said they were "willing to participate" in talks.

They have a 90-day deadline for reaching an agreement.

Apple had sued Samsung, which was the world's largest seller of smartphones last year, for copying the look and feel of its iPhone and iPad in its Galaxy S line of devices. South Korea-based Samsung filed a counter suit.

Samsung and California-based Apple have filed at least 30 lawsuits against each other in four continents since April.

Though the companies said in a joint April 16 filing they are willing to participate in the conference with Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero, the two sides are continuing to work towards narrowing their case down for a trial scheduled for the August 25.

Source: North America News.Net