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发帖数: 1034 | 1 by Alex Wilhelm (@alex)
Late today, Apple and Google announced that they have agreed to dismiss
direct lawsuits aimed at one another, and will work together to help push
patent reform forward.
It’s a huge change for the two companies, which compete on everything from
music sales, to productivity tools, to cloud storage, to mobile app
distribution, and so forth. According to a source speaking to GigaOm, about
20 lawsuits will go dark.
Here’s the statement:
Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that
exist directly between the two companies. Apple and Google have also agreed
to work together in some areas of patent reform. The agreement does not
include a cross license.
There is narrowness implicit to the agreement, given that the companies can
still pursue legal action that could harm their core businesses. Apple could
sue firms that work with Google, or with Google products, and the like.
Given that surface area of their competition, the détente is notable.
Technology patent wars are incredibly common. Apple and Samsung’s recent
courtroom battle ended with a nine-figure payment awarded from the latter to
the former. The agreement doesn’t appear to ban future litigation, so this
is hardly a disarmament — instead, it is a deescalation of current legal
action that the firms appear more than willing to leave behind.
If was a gambling man, I’d wager we don’t see much activity of this sort
moving forward. And the anti-trust hairs on the back of my neck are
prickling ever so slightly. |
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