Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Apple-Samsung settlement talks apparently ended without an agreement

Magistrate Judge Spero just entered a minute order for the second day of the Apple-Samsung settlement talks he moderated. Yesterday he did the same for the first day of the mediation conference (Monday).

The two orders don't state a result. What is know for sure is that "Tim Cook & various counsel" met with "G.S. Choi & various counsel" for nine hours on Monday and seven hours on Tuesday. The minute entry for Monday said that they were going to meet again on Tuesday (which was the original plan), while the minute entry for Tuesday doesn't say anything about a continuation of this effort, which suggests that there aren't any near-term plans for further talks of this kind.

I guess Magistrate Judge Spero will soon file a report that will say more than those minute entries did and at least state officially whether or not the parties reached an agreement of sorts. In light of all of the interest in the Apple-Samsung summit, I wanted to immediately share the limited information that is discoverable at this stage.

The Korea Times, which has excellent sources at Samsung, reports that the meeting "yielded no agreement" and that they're now going to square off at trial.

Earlier today I reported that Apple and Samsung are already embroiled in the next discovery dispute. Yesterday I reported that a hearing on Apple's (new, post-appeal) motion for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been scheduled for June 7.

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