With closing arguments in the Apple/Samsung litigation slated to commence tomorrow, Apple CEO Tim Cook will meet with Samsung CEO Kwon Oh Hyun today in a last-ditch, slightly court-ordered, effort to see if the two tech titans can reach a settlement agreement before the case is finally put into the hands of the Jury.
The meeting will essentially be a conversation over the phone, with Bloomberg noting that the companies’ lawyers will report back to Judge Lucy Koh on what, if anything, is agreed upon as a result.
The case is the first to go before a federal jury in a battle being waged on four continents for dominance in a smartphone market valued by Bloomberg Industries at $219.1 billion.
As testimony in the trial drew to a close, Koh asked that the CEOs talk, and said she was “pathologically optimistic” they could settle claims over patents for smartphones and tablet computers. Heads of the two companies met before the trial began and were unable to reach a settlement. The two sides reported Aug. 18 that they had made no progress in narrowing the claims in the suit. The two sides are still filing motions with the court about jury instructions and exhibits.
With so much at stake, and both sides seemingly intransigent in their positions, a settlement agreement seems far from likely at this point.
via Bloomberg
Mon, Aug 20, 2012
Legal, News