“Why not upset the Apple cart? If you don’t, the apples will rot anyway.” – Frank A. Clarke
The news that Apple and HTC had decided to settle their differences outside of the courtroom in favor of a licensing agreement came as shock to many, not the least of whom was Samsung. Not only are they somewhat surprised at this turn of events, but they are also very, very curious—so curious in fact, that they’ve asked the courts to force Apple to reveal the details of the agreement in the hope that it can help them in their continuing struggle against “the fruit company.”
As Samsung knows that two of the patents the courts previously ruled had been infringed upon were also being used against HTC, they are understandably curious to know whether these are covered by the agreement between HTC and Apple. If so, it could certainly work in their favor, as they attempt to fight a permanent US sales ban on some devices. As the two companies are scheduled to meet on December 6th to discuss the issue, Samsung will no doubt want to have all the facts available.
You may ask why this would have any effect on whether Apple can acquire a sales ban. However, it’s simple. Apple previously stated Samsung’s behavior caused them “irreparable harm,” and monetary compensation was not sufficient. However, Samsung’s line of thinking is that if these patents have been licensed to HTC, that’s not the case. When you also consider the billion dollar judgement against Samsung, it might be likely that things do not go quite so smoothly for Apple in their quest for a flat out sales ban.
This of course is all dependent on a great deal of things—mainly whether or not the two “infringed” patents that connect Samsung and HTC are contained in the recent agreement. It remains to be seen how this will pan out. Stay tuned.