Following years of legal battles over patents, Apple Inc. and HTC Corp. have agreed to a cross-licensing scheme that will settle oustanding claims and provide a future framework to avoid problems in the future.
The two companies have sealed a 10-year deal that will see them license patents from each other, according to this NetworkWorld article. The details remain confidential, but it’s probable that HTC got the short end of the stick, according to Florian Mueller, an intellectual property analyst. Nevertheless, it’s a move that will give both companies a freer hand to focus on their business, he says:
“It makes a whole lot of sense that Apple would settle with HTC, and that HTC would accept the terms Apple has imposed (which were not disclosed but are likely somewhat onerous), prior to other Apple-Android settlements. Both companies simply have other priorities to focus on.”
Both companies have, in fact, made statements to that effect. Peter Chou, CEO of HTC said the deal would allow HTC to “focus on innovation instead of litigation,” while Apple CEO Tim Cook made a nearly identical statement.
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