A U.S. judge hearing the Apple-Samsung patent litigation has ordered the Cupertino-based tech giant to disclose the details of its patent settlement with HTC to Samsung. The court order is expected to strengthen Samsung's fight to get rid of a potential sales ban in U.S.
The Korean electronic titan had earlier filed a motion asking the court to direct Apple to share details of the settlement that it reached with HTC on Nov.10, which was kept under the wraps. With the court ruling, Samsung will now get to review the complete contract including information on how much HTC pays Apple for each of its Android mobile devices.
"Based on the papers and the parties' arguments at the hearing, the court GRANTS Samsung's motion to compel depositions, GRANTS Apple's request for two additional depositions, and GRANTS Samsung's motion to compel production of the HTC settlement agreement," said the court ruling published on the Scribd.
The court ordered the iPhone maker to deliver a copy of its settlement agreement without further delay; however, producing the copy of its HTC agreement is subjected to an "attorneys' eyes only" designation, which will keep the contract out of the public eye.
The settlement contract ended a lengthy legal battle Apple fought with HTC since March 2010 and Samsung allege that it is "almost certain" the deal covers some of the patents at the centre of its dispute with Apple. Apple and Samsung are involved in bitter legal fights and have filed lawsuits against each other in more than 10 countries.
