Apple and Samsung have been duking it out in courtrooms around the world for quite a while now, with each company claiming that the other has infringed some assortment of patents with their various smartphones and tablets. It appears that the two firms may be interested in trying to settle their disagreements once and for all, though, as a report from the Wall Street Journal claims that Apple and Samsung have held several settlement discussions recently.
According to both legal documents and the WSJ's own sources, Apple and Samsung have met multiple times since Apple's trial victory last year. These meetings reportedly even included some face-to-face talks in Samsung's hometown of Seoul, South Korea. While the two companies reportedly almost reached an agreement back in February, it's said that there's no evidence to show that they're actually close to reaching a settlement right now. However, talks between Apple and Samsung are allegedly still happening.
Many details of the settlement talks themselves have been heavily redacted in legal documents. One detail that has been unearthed is that Samsung has suggested a broad patent cross-licensing deal that would put an end to all of the legal battles between the two companies.
This isn't the first time that Apple and Samsung have met to discuss a possible settlement. The CEOs of the two companies got together last year in San Francisco for court-ordered meetings, but as you might've guessed, nothing came of the talks. A Samsung executive later said that his company had no interest in striking a patent-licensing agreement like the one Apple made with HTC. It looks like Samsung's stance may have changed, though, as the legal war between it and Apple continues to drag on. For now we'll just have to wait and see whether these renewed talks are more successful than the last ones.
