HTC and Apple are burying the hatchet. The two companies announced Saturday that they have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current patent lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement.
According to a joint statement, the license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential.
“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,” said
Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, said in a statement he’s pleased with the resolution of the patent dispute, which has been ongoing since early 2010. Chou said his company can now focus more on innovation than litigation.
In its initial complaint, Apple claimed HTC infringed on a whopping 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s “user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.”
Industry analyst Jeff Kagan said in emailed notes that the agreement is good for both Apple and HTC.
“This is not a battle that either company wanted, yet both were tied up in,” Kagan said, noting that he doesn’t think a resolution to Apple’s other major patent battle will come quite as easily.
“Samsung is a huge competitive threat to Apple, so I don’t expect Apple and Samsung to be settled this easily. That one will drag on,” he said.
