Apple and Samsung have agreed to attend a mediation session before the two electronic giants head to court in March to battle it out over smartphone patents. The session, to be attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Samsung CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon as well as their respective in-house lawyers, will take place on or before February 19, according to a recent court filing as outlined by Reuters.
According to the report, the legal teams for each camp met on January 6 to discuss settlement opportunities. No word on how those talks went, however, but I assume nothing was worked out considering the pending mediation.
Before jury election took place in a separate lawsuit between the companies, US District Court Judge Lucy Koh suggested that both parties should try to reach a settlement and that she would like the CEOs of both companies to participate. With a bit of humor, Koh told representatives for both companies that they don't have to laugh at her, but even her chambers laughed when she mentioned a settlement.
The March trial date is to settle a dispute in which Apple claims Samsung has infringed on its patents. It'll be the third major trial between the two in recent memory.
Over the last two years, Apple has taken Samsung to court twice in San Jose, California. Both times, Cupertino came out victorious as juries collectively awarded the firm nearly $930 million in damages. Those victories come at a cost, however, as a December filing revealed Apple has paid its top outside legal team nearly $60 million to bring litigation against Samsung.