2007, the year when Apple Inc gave the world a device that would revolutionize how people used Mobile Phones forever. It was called the iPhone. With a simple User-interface and cutting edge design and technology, the iPhone made the giants of the mobile industry stand up and take notice. And then there was Samsung, a company which would go on to launch the Galaxy series of phones to compete with Apple and what we witness now is one of the biggest patent battle waging between these two companies in almost all continents.
But this could have been avoided. AllThingsD tells us that in October 2010, Apple offered to share its iOS patents with Samsung if they agreed to pay $30 per phone and $40 per tablet. Apple acknowledged that Samsung, its strategic component supplier had chosen to imitate the Apple iPhone’s archetype. So the Cupertino giant offered a royalty-bearing license for this category of device.
Apple also offered to give Samsung a 20 percent discount if the Korean company cross-license its portfolio back to Apple. Apple also sought royalties on Samsung’s non-Android smartphones, including those running the Symbian and Bada operating systems.
But as we all know Samsung declined the offer and are fighting over patent issues in courts all across the globe. Lets see how much Samsung might end up paying of it loses the trials.