Just when you thought that Apple’s legal team would be working overtime for many years to deal with intellectual property lawsuits involving a number of tech companies and patent trolls, it was announced over the weekend that HTC was no longer on the list.
The Apple/HTC patent wars have been going on since 2010, and HTC has not done so well. In 2011, the International Trade Commission ruled against HTC over a skirmish involving Apple’s “data detectors” patent. HTC, despite being on the losing side, vowed to continue to fight Apple.
Clearly Apple was the driver in the solution, announcing: “HTC and Apple have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential.”