Earlier this month, HTC and Apple reached a cross-licensing agreement, placing to rest their patent disputes, at least for the time being. Details of said agreement have begun to reach public ears and reveal some interesting tactical moves, especially by Apple.
A large clause in the agreement states that if either company is involved in a purchase or hostile takeover (not going to be Apple) then the agreement is null and void. The clause will have been put in-place by Apple to prevent a Google-Motorola style takeover by another firm, Samsung, for example.
As another part of the agreement, all global claims were dismissed without prejudice, allowing for them to be taken up, once again, should the arrangement be broken or expire (currently the legal pact is set for a 10 year run).
Samsung has since requested access to the agreement in hopes of establishing grounds against product embargoes by determining whether Apple had set a precedent indicating that a monetary settlement was more favourable against an injunction. Initially, Apple and HTC were happy to respond to the disclosure request, however wished for 33 words to remain hidden, however Judge Paul S Grewal has since ordered the firms to turn-over the document, completely unredacted.
