In a move that can lead to the end for the patent battles that usually dominate the smarphone sector, technology giants Apple and Google have decided to bring drop all lawsuits between them by intending to "work together" on some areas of patent reform.
According to a statement released by both companies, all "current lawsuits" between the parties will be dropped. "Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that exist directly between the two companies," said the companies in a statement."Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform. The agreement does not include a cross-license."
The legal dispute dates back to 2010 Motorola sued Apple for infringing a number of patents in 2010, and Apple countersued by claiming Motorola violated its patents to certain smartphone features.Apple had asked for a cessation when Google inherited the suits when it bought Motorola Mobility for $US12.5 billion in 2012, but Google refused and the cases continued,
Google earlier this year agreed to sell Motorola’s devices unit to Lenovo for $2.9 billion, though it would keep Motorola’s patents.However, the new bonhomie would not extend to Apple's litigation against Samsung Electronics. Google finds frequent mention in these cases between the two because Samsung is the largest maker of phones using Google’s Android operating system.
