Apple And Samsung End Seven-Year-Long Legal Dispute

A seven-year-long patent dispute between Apple and Samsung has finally been settled.

The tech giants have been locked in a battle over patents since 2011 when Apple launched a suit against Samsung, asking for over $2 billion in damages. This was the first of many similar lawsuits which took place in courts across the world, the BBC reports.

Now the companies have called truce, but the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

However, a few weeks back a US court awarded Apple $539 million from Samsung for 'copying features' of the original iPhone.

In the past, Samsung was ordered to hand over $1.05 billion in damages to Apple for the features, including the way icons are displayed in a grid.

The South Korean company appealed that decision arguing that the patent infringement only involved certain features, and in 2016 the Supreme Court agreed and ruled in Samsung's favour.

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But that wasn't the end and the ruling didn't cover the actual patents involved, so back to court they all went where Samsung was eventually defeated and ordered to hand over $538 million - despite its argument that it only owed $28 million.

"This case has always been about more than money. Apple ignited the smartphone revolution with iPhone and it is a fact that Samsung blatantly copied our design. It is important that we continue to protect the hard work and innovation of so many people at Apple."

The drawn-out legal battle is against devices that are no longer in use, such as the Samsung Epic and Gem (nope, I don't remember them either). And, as a result, this truce is unlikely to make much difference to the devices and handsets currently being flogged by either company.