Apple, HTC Settle Patent Dispute; All Lawsuits Dropped

Apple and HTC Saturday reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

"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," he said in a joint press release.

Apple, in one of its first patent lawsuits, filed an infringement suit against HTC in March 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and one with the U.S International Trade Commission (ITC). The Cupertino-based tech giant filed nearly 20 separate patent infringements relating to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware against HTC. In a counter attack, the Taiwanese firm sued Apple in the same court in September 2011 claiming infringement of four patents HTC obtained from Google. It also filed another complaint with the ITC.

However, the long-fought legal battle over patents comes to an end now and HTC hopes the shipments of its mobile devices will pick up now. "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.