Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all patent infringement lawsuits between the two companies, ending years of litigation in the US and Europe. The mutual agreement was reported today by the Wall Street Journal.
This agreement would effectively end more than 20 different patent lawsuits between Google, Motorola and Apple in the US and Germany. In a joint statement released by the pair, the two companies confirmed they will work together on patent reform. Though it ends all existing lawsuits, the truce does include any cross-licensing agreements.
Apple Inc. and Google Inc. agreed to dismiss all lawsuits between them, bringing to a close a patent dispute between the iPhone maker and the Web giant’s Motorola unit.
In a joint statement, Apple and Google said there was no cross-licensing agreement as part of the truce. The companies said they will work together in “some areas of patent reform.”
It was not immediately clear what triggered the agreement between the two companies.
This agreement is not the first time that Google and Apple have worked together on patent reform. Earlier this year. Apple, Google and other major technology companies jointly petitioned the Supreme Court to implement guidelines that would cut down the number of frivolous patent lawsuits. This combined effort may be a harbinger of future collaboration between the two companies.
