The company declined to say why it decided to settle the case, citing a non-disclosure agreement.
"Whereas the court has been advised by the parties that the above-entitled action has been settled, all remaining claims and counterclaims, in this case, are hereby dismissed with prejudice, to the extent such are still pending, and all parties shall bear their own attorneys' fees and costs," the San Jose Division of the United States District Court in the Northern District of California said in an order of dismissal statement.
The Korea Times obtained a copy of the court's order.
A Samsung Electronics spokesman in Seoul said the company has finally called a truce with Apple, added the firm can't release specifics about the settlement under the non-disclosure agreement approved by the court.
The pricey settlement comes seven years after Apple sued Samsung alleging the Korean tech company "slavishly copied the look and feel of the iPhone."
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Samsung denied the claim and countersued the Cupertino-headquartered outfit in more than 15 different countries on four continents, saying Apple's lawsuit limited consumer choice and hurt innovation in the smartphone industry. In 2012, a jury ruled Samsung "must pay" Apple more than $1 billion for copying Apple's design patents and other software features of the iPhone and iPad.
Later, San Jose court judge Lucy Koh reduced the penalty by $450 million.
While Samsung agreed with Apple to end the fight in other countries, their fight continued only in the United States as the case landed in the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2016 reversed an appeals court ruling that Samsung pays $399 million for patent infringement. The case went back to a lower court and a jury awarded Apple $539 million in May this year, leaving Samsung with an outstanding balance of $140 million to pay.
On the plus side for Samsung, the company saw a steep rise in its smartphone business. Before 2011, Samsung was a second-tier smartphone supplier but became the industry leader as the fight awakened idling demand for its products.
Samsung uses a vertical integration structure between parts and finished goods and supplied phones with competitive functions and at lower prices.
"The litigation helped Samsung a lot in terms of brand awareness and market share. Now, the growth momentum in smartphones isn't that strong as Samsung's priority is how to integrate phone features into other products supporting artificial intelligence. It's hard to put a wow factor in smartphones due to the industry's consolidation," an attorney based in Seoul said by telephone.
"This is a win-win decision for them and a plus factor for Microsoft and Google as they supported Samsung."
Samsung is the strongest backer of Google's Android mobile operating system.
Florian Mueller, an application developer who is also a seasoned intellectual property expert, said; "Apple has clearly proven it's prepared to enforce its intellectual property rights vigorously, persistently and patiently. Samsung has shown it's a formidable defendant."
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Later, San Jose court judge Lucy Koh reduced the penalty by $450 million.
While Samsung agreed with Apple to end the fight in other countries, their fight continued only in the United States as the case landed in the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2016 reversed an appeals court ruling that Samsung pays $399 million for patent infringement. The case went back to a lower court and a jury awarded Apple $539 million in May this year, leaving Samsung with an outstanding balance of $140 million to pay.
On the plus side for Samsung, the company saw a steep rise in its smartphone business. Before 2011, Samsung was a second-tier smartphone supplier but became the industry leader as the fight awakened idling demand for its products.
Samsung uses a vertical integration structure between parts and finished goods and supplied phones with competitive functions and at lower prices.
"The litigation helped Samsung a lot in terms of brand awareness and market share. Now, the growth momentum in smartphones isn't that strong as Samsung's priority is how to integrate phone features into other products supporting artificial intelligence. It's hard to put a wow factor in smartphones due to the industry's consolidation," an attorney based in Seoul said by telephone.
"This is a win-win decision for them and a plus factor for Microsoft and Google as they supported Samsung."
Samsung is the strongest backer of Google's Android mobile operating system.
Florian Mueller, an application developer who is also a seasoned intellectual property expert, said; "Apple has clearly proven it's prepared to enforce its intellectual property rights vigorously, persistently and patiently. Samsung has shown it's a formidable defendant."
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On his popular blog _ FossPatents _ Mueller said he expects the next long-running case won't be Samsung versus Apple.
"Normally, companies strike license deals, and when they wind up in court, they typically settle reasonably early. Somehow, it took them a lot longer in this case. Now either one of them has a dispute going that looks like it could become the next long-running one _ Apple with Qualcomm and Samsung with Huawei," he wrote.
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