By Kim Yoo-chul
A senior Samsung Electronics executive said Thursday the firm is holding working-level discussions with Apple to find a breakthrough in their patent disputes.
“Yes. Working-level discussions are now underway,” the top-level Samsung official said, confirming earlier reports by The Korea Times that the two firms have resumed “peace talks” to end their patent feud.
Samsung earlier agreed with Apple to submit a joint settlement proposal before January 8 to the U.S. federal Judge Lucy H. Koh, who has presided over the patent cases since 2011.
The executive said he will fly to the United States to participate in this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES), which kicks off next week in the U.S. desert city of Las Vegas.
He, however, refused to confirm whether he will meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss the patent issue.
“I will tell you more about that litigation issue in Las Vegas,” according to the executive.
Officials at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) and the Korea Fair Trade Commission said Samsung and Apple are “narrowing their differences” over royalty payments.
“Samsung is currently in talks with Apple to sign a patent accord. The two companies are quite softening their positions on some contentious issues,” said an MSIP official.
Still, the two companies are far apart on the value each places on their patent infringement claims. Samsung’s payment to Apple was fixed at $640 million.
A new jury recently ordered Samsung to pay an additional $290 million to the iPhone maker, which is subject to the approval of the presiding judge.
Since 2011, Apple and Samsung have sued each other in the United States, Australia, Germany, Japan, Korea and the Netherlands.
Samsung has been a primary component supplier to Apple since 2007, which means the latter is paying billions of dollars each year to purchase Samsung flat-screens, application processors, DRAMs and NAND flash chips.
Apple is attempting to shift its sourcing channel to Taiwan’s TSMC to cut its heavy dependence on its Korean rival. However, it remains to be seen whether TSMC will be able to meet Apple’s strict quality guidelines and requirements, industry sources say.
