The Patent Wars of 2012 already claimed one victim to the tune of $1.05 billion, and they don’t seem to be stopping any time soon. Now it seems it’s time to get the grown-ups involved. According to reports from Reuters, Google CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting closed-door meetings about patents, intellectual property issues, and other things CEO’s talk about.
Apparently, the two head-honchos already had a phone talk last week, and talks at lower levels are also occurring between the companies. More talks between Page and Cook are expected in the coming weeks, but a Friday appointment has apparently been postponed to an unknown date, and for unknown reasons, though it could just be scheduling conflicts.
We’re not sure exactly what the talks involve, but one source has speculated that it could be the beginning of a truce about the disputes over basic features and functions in Android. I would tend to think these two would more likely talk at a higher level, discussing a possible broad settlement, rather than getting bogged down in the minute details of every issue. One thing’s for certain, though. The majority of their differences revolve around the rapidly growing mobile space, which is obviously of crucial important to both companies.
I, for one, applaud the intent of these discussions, and hope it can bring an end to all the litigation, which is only good for the lawyers involved. Will it bear fruit? I hope so, but I’m not holding my breath.
source: reuters
