Apple, Samsung Patent Infringement Mediation Talks Fail

The patent infringement mediation Apple and Samsung agreed to has apparently come and gone, and turned out to be a bust. The CEOs from both companies met last week, but weren't able to reach an agreement, which means they'll be squaring off in court this March for their second U.S. patent infringement trial.

Apple and Samsung fail to reach agreement ahead of patent infringement trialApple and Samsung fail to reach agreement ahead of patent infringement trial

The two companies agreed to meet after Judge Lucy Koh pushed for the talks. Judge Koh oversaw the first infringement trial where Samsung was found to have infringed on a long list of Apple patents, while a jury said Apple wasn't infringing on any of Samsung's.

Judge Koh will be presiding over their second infringement trial that includes mobile devices not listed in the first. Just like the previous trial, both companies are accusing the other of using their mobile device patents without proper licensing.

The idea behind the talks was to try to reach a resolution that would keep the new trial from moving forward. Apple and Samsung had a February 19 deadline for their talks, but it looks like they finished early.

News of the failed discussions first appeared in Korean news, according to The Verge. Sources said Samsung CEO JK Shin isn't flying to the U.S. next week for talks, indicating they already happened and failed.

Samsung submitted the list of witnesses it plans to call to the court on Thursday that includes Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, as well as vice president of iPhone and iOS marketing Greg Joswiak, and former senior vice president of iOS software Scott Forsall.

The new infringement trial is set to start in March, and if it follows the same path as the first trial, will turn out poorly for Samsung.

[Some image elements courtesy Shutterstock]