A California judge has ordered Samsung and Apple to send their CEOs and top lawyers to settlement talks next month. Tim Cook and Choi Gee-sung will meet May 21 and 22 in the San Francisco court of Judge Joseph Spero, a judge who is NOT ruling in their patent case and may therefore approach the talks without pre-existing bias. As in many of the other lawsuits pending around the world between these two companies, Samsung is claiming that Apple infringed upon various patents that enable voice and data transmission over 3G networks, and Apple has filed a number of similar claims against Samsung.
Patent experts say that the next round of patent wars will revolve around 4G networks, and that here Samsung may have an edge. iRunway, a
patent litigation and portfolio analysis firm operating in Austin and Palo Alto, says that Samsung has been ahead of Apple for years when it comes to investment in 4G research and technology. “Samsung, long recognized as a devices company, invested in network and infrastructure developments well ahead of the curve, and has emerged as a leading 4G patent holder in several key categories,” the firm’s analysts wrote in a recent report. “Interestingly, Apple, one of Samsung’s key competitors, holds few 4G patents, and currently licenses 4G capabilities for its new iPad.”
iRunway categorizes some intellectual property as “seminal patents,” meaning that they are potentially the most valuable. The firm says that Qualcomm holds more seminal patents for 4G technology (81) than any other company, but that Samsung is close behind with 79.
