[Rumor] Google & Apple Conducting Secret Talks for a Patent Settlement

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According to industry sources, Google and Apple are supposedly conducting "secret talks" behind the scenes in order to come up with a patent settlement agreement. Reuters reported that Larry Page, CEO of Google, and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple have recently had a private phone conversation in which they discussed "a range of intellectual property matters, including the ongoing mobile patent disputes between the companies." Additionally, according to Reuter's unnamed source, the two CEOs will likely talk again soon to continue negotiations for some kind of cease fire. Here's a quote from the Reuters article with some final details,

The two companies are keeping the lines of communication open at a high level against the backdrop of Apple's decisive legal victory in a patent infringement case against Samsung, which uses Google's Android software.

A jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages last Friday and set the stage for a possible ban on sales of some Samsung products in a case that has been widely viewed as a "proxy war" between Apple and Google.

One possible scenario under consideration could be a truce involving disputes over basic features and functions in Google's Android mobile software, one source said. But it's unclear whether Page and Cook are discussing a broad settlement of the various disputes between the two companies - most of which involve the burgeoning mobile computing area - or are focused on a more limited set of issues.

Could we finally see an end to some of the bitter patent wars? The answer is a definite... maybe.

Source: Reuters

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