14 DAY TRIAL // U.S. Judge Lucy Koh has ordered Apple's CEO Tim Cook and Samsung's CEO Gee-Sung Choi to meet up and have a friendly discussion about the reasons behind the two companies’ litigation, and how it can be settled.
FOSS Patents has a joint statement from Apple and Samsung who have both responded positively to the court’s request to meet for an Alternative Dispute Resolution (or ADR).
The two smartphone vendors reportedly said they were willing to participate in a Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference (MJSC), as directed by the Court, with Judge Spero as mediator.
According to Foss Patents, the statement read: “At Apple, the chief executive officer and general counsel are the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Apple during the upcoming settlement discussions. At Samsung, the chief executive officer and general counsel are also the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Samsung during these settlement discussions.”
In response, Judge Koh said, "The parties have indicated that they are willing to participate in a Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference ('MJSC'). ECF No. 873. Therefore, the parties are hereby referred to an MJSC with Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero with a 90-day deadline. As the parties have indicated in their joint statement, the chief executive officer and general counsel of Apple and the chief executive officer and general counsel of Samsung shall appear and participate at the MJSC."
Foss Patents’ Florian Mueller, an intellectual property activist and expert in patent lawsuits, is skeptical that the Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference will do anything to resolve the duo’s dispute.
“The courts can obligate parties to meet and talk, but they can't force them to settle,” he stresses.
Mueller does agree that Tim Cook meeting Samsung’s Gee-Sung Choi at a San Francisco courthouse is something big, adding that “maybe something will come out of this after all.”