HTC also happy to switch from litigation to innovation, according to Peter Chou

Nov 11, 2012 10:29 GMT  ·  By

Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Timothy D. Cook has released a statement concerning a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits between the iPhone maker and Taiwan-based HTC.

On its PR site Apple has posted a joint announcement signed Apple Inc. and HTC stating that the two technology giants have dismissed all current lawsuits and entered a ten-year licensing agreement that “extends to current and future patents held by both parties.”

The two parties also agreed to keep the terms of the settlement under tight wraps.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, says Apple is “glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” adding, “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.”

Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, agrees that it is in the two companies’ best interest to “focus on innovation instead of litigation.”

HTC had accused Apple of infringing two patents relating to 4G wireless technologies.

In August 2012, Cher Wang, chairperson of HTC said the company had no intentions in settling its legal disputes with Apple, adding that the costly verdict against Samsung in the U.S. “does not mean the failure of the entire Google Android ecosystem.”

A U.S. trade judge in September indicated that Apple may have a hard time invalidating patents owned by HTC.

Judge Thomas Pender said this could potentially lead to an import ban on Apple’s newest iPad model at the time (the third-generation model with Retina display) as well as the up-and-coming iPhone (iPhone 5).

Judge Pender, of the U.S. International Trade Commission, said that “clear and convincing means something to me,” regarding the circumstances in which a patent should or shouldn't have been issued.

“I have to be pretty darn certain a U.S. patent is invalid,” the Judge said.