Apple, Samsung Urged by U.S. Judge to Talk out Patent Disputes One Last Time
It's best for Apple and Samsung chiefs to sit down and attempt to reach an agreement before a trial jury deliberates on their legal disputes, a U.S. court presiding over the two's patent contest said on Wednesday.
U.S. federal judge Lucy Koh reminded the tech giants, which are fiercely jostling for dominance of the lucrative smartphone market, that both of them are courting business hazard with the way the high-profile court hearing has so far played out.
"I see risks here for both sides," Judge Koh was quoted by Reuters as saying in her suggestions that maybe Apple and Samsung CEOs could spend some time together to talk out on the matter.
What could be achieved outside of the court room could save the two firms unnecessary troubles, the presiding judge hinted to legal representatives of the warring parties.
She noted that both sides, after more than two weeks of presenting their arguments, parading their witnesses and issuing rebuttals, have pretty much accomplished what they came here for.
The court, especially the nine-member jury, has absorbed the points that Apple and Samsung lawyers have been labouring to do since the actual court room spars started, Judge Koh allowed.
The smartphone bitter rivals successfully raised awareness of their respective intellectual property, the trial judge observed.
"In many respects, (it is) mission accomplished and it is time for peace," The Wall Street Journal reported Judge Koh as saying.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook had agreed to meet with his counterpart, then Samsung top man Choi Gee Sung, earlier in May this year but their talks ended in stalemate.
The two titans, analysts said, seemed convinced that each side was at fault and therefore must pay up for the transgressions, which led to the talks not producing anything positive for both firms.
For Apple, pricked that Samsung has been raking in millions by selling products that look and function like its iPhone and iPad, the whole trouble is worth some $2.5 billion in order to fix the damages that it claimed was wrought to its global business by the South Korean firm.
On the other hand, Samsung is insistent that compensations are in order since Apple deliberately infringed on its specific wireless technology, which immensely contributed, the company stressed, to the great success of Apple's ubiquitous gadgets.
The two's hardline stance leaves no room for a compromise even as the court issued harsh signals that probably both of them will incur in equal terms, analysts said.
But maybe, another private meet between Apple and Samsung will do the trick this time, which a week prior to the expected deliberation of the jury, Judge Koh said.
"It is at least worth one more try," Bloomberg quoted the federal judge as saying in encouraging the two companies to consider another round of talk.