Apple and Samsung will not reach a settlement in the United States in the short term

On the morning of August 7, Apple and Samsung announced on Tuesday that they have agreed to abandon all lawsuits regarding smartphone and tablet patents outside the United States, but the two companies' current lawsuits in the United States will continue. In addition, the agreement between the two companies does not include any patent licensing terms.

The patent licensing dispute between Apple and Samsung has lasted for more than three years. In addition to the United States, the two companies have sued each other in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.

Industry insiders hope that according to this settlement agreement, the long-standing legal dispute between Apple and Samsung can be quickly concluded, and the problems in the United States will not be excluded. However, some legal experts said that such a settlement agreement is unlikely to be reached in the short term, and the litigation between the two companies will continue for several years. But at present, it seems that Apple and Samsung's enthusiasm for resorting to law has greatly decreased.

"In the U.S., disputes between companies will also become smaller," said Michael Carrier, a professor at Rutgers Law School. "Both companies realize that litigation will not bring them the returns they expected."

The lawsuit between Apple and Samsung is not just about monetary damages, although damages are often part of the case. The real battle between the two companies is over the mobile device market. Apple is currently the second-ranked smartphone manufacturer, with two-thirds of its revenue coming from iPhones and iPads. Samsung is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer. Both companies want to dominate the smartphone and tablet market, which sold about 1.2 billion units in 2013. Currently, both companies face challenges from emerging market competitors such as Xiaomi.

The lawsuit between Apple and Samsung dates back to April 2011. At that time, Apple filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung in the Northern District Court of California, claiming that Samsung copied the appearance and experience patents of the iPhone and iPad. At that time, Steve Jobs was still the CEO of Apple. However, he began to take sick leave in January 2011 and handed over the CEO position to Tim Cook in August. According to Jobs' biography, the lawsuit against Samsung and Android systems was largely due to Jobs' personal wishes.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.