While the future is looking a little more friendly for relations between Apple and HTC, there's still the matter of Samsung. As the South Korean electronics giant prepares to fight back against proposed sales bans requested by Apple, Samsung wants to use the HTC licensing settlement in its favor.

As noted by Reuters, Samsung has asked a U.S. court for the terms behind the settlement of worldwide patent battles between Apple and HTC.

Apple has sought legal recourse against HTC — and other Android mobile manufacturers — since early 2010. Last week, the two companies agreed to a settlement which involves Apple licensing a currently-unknown number of patents to HTC.

Samsung's filing states the company is "almost certain" the Apple-HTC deal may include licensing deals which are also involved in the proposed sales bans of Samsung mobile devices.

Speaking to Reuters, IP lawyer Ron Laurie says it is "very unlikely" that HTC would have accepted a settlement arrangement without all of the related Apple patents being included.

Obviously, Samsung hopes to thwart Apple's attempts to ban the U.S. sale of some Samsung devices by utilizing the deal documents. If Apple is willing to allow a competitor to license the same functionality, a judge may be less likely to listen to Cupertino's cries of copycatting. 

But Samsung's move may not work as planned. Apple already has some licensing deals related to its technology patents. And in a filing last week, Apple insisted that similar deals with Microsoft, IBM, and Nokia are older than the iPhone hardware.

But there's a bigger question here: why are Samsung and Apple not talking about a licensing deal? And for that matter, what about the ongoing turmoil with Motorola?

To borrow a phrase, "we're just so tired of all these Patent Wars."

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