Google and Apple Resolve Patents Battle

Google and Apple Work to Resolve Patents Battle by resolving smartphone litigation. According to Reuters, Apple Inc and Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit have agreed to settle all patent litigation between them over smartphones, ending one of the highest-profile lawsuits in technology. In a joint statement last Friday stated, the companies said the settlement does not include a cross license to their respective patents. "Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform," the statement said.

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Google Q4 Struggled With Motorola Mobility. Google published quarterly results which showed continued struggles for its Motorola Mobility arm, which it this week announced is to be sold to Chinese player Lenovo. The smartphone unit saw a fourth quarter GAAP operating loss of $507 million, compared with a prior-year loss of $353 million, on revenue of $1.15 billion, compared with $1.51 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012.

WSJ reports, in 2010, Motorola sued Apple for patent infringement, prompting Apple to countersue Motorola. Now, the two companies are locked in about 20 different lawsuits against each other in jurisdictions in the U.S. and Germany. Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in 2012, in part to obtain Motorola’s portfolio of thousands of patents, which it used to defend its Android mobile operating system from intellectual property litigation launched by Apple and Microsoft among others.

Google earlier this year agreed to sell Motorola’s device business to Chinese personal computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. LNVGF +2.46% for $2.9 billion, though it would keep Motorola’s patents. Both Apple Inc. and Google Inc. agreed to drop all lawsuits between them, setting aside one of the many issues that divide the two technology giants controlling the smartphone world. The truce covers Apple's patent litigation with Google's Motorola unit. Motorola sued Apple for patent infringement in 2010, and Apple countersued. Google inherited the suits when it bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in 2012 in part to.