Among many imitators is Samsung, who recently was asked to pay $1 billion in damages to Apple for having copied the latter’s iPhone design in its smartphones. Apple patent case against Samsung affects Google as most of the smartphones by Samsung comes incorporated with Google’s Android operating system. Recently, it was reported that Tim Cook, CEO, Apple Inc. and Larry Page, CEO, Google were in talks over each other’s intellectual property matter. Will the talks yield any fruitful result? Can the two chiefs get over patent disputes and come to a settlement? Fighting over Android’s mimicry of the iPhone, it is believed that both of them are trying to come to a decent agreement. The gulf between the two companies is huge and deep. With recent victory over Samsung by a jury in the US, Apple seems to have made clear that the firm would fight for every patent that it owns. It was reported by Reuters that Page and Cook had a phone conversation to discuss the mobile-patent disputes between them. As per written in Walter Isaacson’s biography of ‘Steve Jobs’, Jobs did sit down once with former Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google, as per Schmidt’s request, to demand that Google stop copying the iPhone’s features. As the imitation didn’t stop despite warnings, Jobs’ fury and outrage led to many lawsuits against developers of smartphones that run Google’s Android software, including patent infringement suits against Samsung Electronics. Google has never been sued by Apple directly. But Google-Motorola Mobility has recently taken Apple to court on charges of patent infringement. In June, a federal judge in Chicago threw out Apple’s patent suit against Motorola. Apple has another case pending against Samsung, which is set to go to trial next year. However, there is a hope that Cook and Page could come to some sort of settlement, as they come to the table with less baggage than Schmidt and Jobs. Jobs was particularly angry as Schmidt was on Apple’s board, until he stepped down in 2009. In January 2010, Google launched its own smartphone, the Nexus One. Page, a co-founder of Google, became CEO of the Internet advertising and search giant in April 2011, replacing Schmidt, who is executive chairman of the company’s board. Cook, who had been Apple’s chief operating officer, became CEO of Apple last August, when Jobs stepped down due to worsened health issues. But it is hoped that Google and Apple do come to an agreement and decide on something more sensible and practical. Clearly Apple has the upper hand following its legal victory over Samsung. There are some analysts who believe that the ongoing patent battle between many giants in the mobile market might just end up confusing some non-essential and all essential patents. What the outcome of Apple and Google talks would be only time will tell. Stay tuned. We will get you all the updates.
