Apple Inc. and HTC Corp. announced Saturday that they had reached a settlement in patent lawsuits they had pending against each other around the world, bringing peace on one front of the smartphone patent wars.
While it continues to fight bitter battles with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility unit, Apple said it had reached a global settlement with Taiwan-based HTC that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a 10-year license agreement.
In 2010, HTC became the first company Apple sued in what has turned into a multifront litigation battle involving nearly every smartphone maker. Terms of the deal that will bring the dispute to a close are confidential, and the parties said in a joint statement only that it "extends to current and future patents held by both parties."
"HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation," HTC CEO Peter Chou said.
HTC Lead counsel Bob Van Nest commented, “Keker & Van Nest is proud to have lead the fight for HTC and Android , and to have contributed to a successful global resolution of this important issue for HTC.”
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