It was the shot heard 'round the world this weekend: Apple and HTC announced a cease fire in their patent battles, choosing to put down their swords and putting hand to pen to sign a license deal instead.
Apple announced an end to its patent litigation with handset maker HTC on Saturday in a brief press release which featured very similar quotes from the company's respective CEOs.
"HTC and Apple have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement," the press release reads. "The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential."
“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC.
“We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.”
While neither company has much else to say on the matter, it's certainly making Samsung and Motorola look bad by comparison, especially after a few attempts by Cook personally attempting to rectify the situation with the latter.
Notably, HTC offers both Windows Phone as well as Android handsets, and the settlement may signal the company's intention to start focusing more heavily on Microsoft's platform now that Windows Phone 8 has launched.
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