Apple has been and currently still is involved in a number of patent disputes with other manufacturers both in the U.S. and abroad, but a new report today claims that the Cupertino firm has spoken with select companies to settle some of those suits. According to sources speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, Apple has reached out to both Motorola and Samsung in an attempt to settle some of the litigation going on between them all in exchange for patent licensing agreements that would see Apple receive royalty payments. One source claims that Apple has asked for between $5 and $15 per device (around 1 to 2.5 percent of the product's net sales) for licenses to some of its patents in one of the negotiations.
In other legal news, Judge Richard A. Posner has ordered Google and Motorola to give Apple information on the development of Android as well as details on Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola. The decision comes from a patent suit filed by Apple against Moto back in 2010. Motorola countersued Apple after the original case was filed. Judge Posner has scheduled the actual trials for those two cases to start June 11th, with the trial for Moto's countersuit following directly after the initial trial for Apple's case.
This isn't the first time that the patent licensing subject has come up in a legal tiff involving Apple, as we learned last month that Motorola asked the company for 2.25 percent of devices sales in exchange for licenses to wireless patents. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Apple will be able to work out a deal with Motorola or Samsung, but it sure would be nice to have fewer patent lawsuits to keep track of. We'll keep an eye on the situation and pass along more details as we get them.
