Tim Cook & Larry Page Reportedly Discuss Patents

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page have reportedly been in behind-the-scenes discussions about “a range of intellectual property matters,” including the epic mobile patent battle being fought by proxy. Citing unnamed sources, Reuters reported that the two tech execs have been chatting by phone, while lower level talks have also been taking place.

Tim Cook and Larry Page Talk

TMO Artist’s Rendition of the Conversation
(Click the image for a larger version)

No agreements have been leaked, but the mere fact that Messrs. Cook and Page have been talking suggests that some kind of agreement is possible. Apple has been attacking Google’s Android platform by going after Android OEMs. Apple won a sweeping victory against Samsung last Friday when a jury convected the firm willfully copying Apple’s patents.

Reuters said that high-level lines of communication have been opened recently, and that the two CEOs are planning another discussion in the near future. A chit-chat has been scheduled for Friday, August 31st, but was canceled for unknown reasons (i.e. don’t read anything into that cancellation—CEOs of multi-billion dollar tech giants tend to be busy chaps).

If the two companies can come to some kind of agreement, the mobile patent wars that have so utterly dominated the news for more than two years now could be a thing of the past. That is assuming that Google’s OEMs are willing to stick with stock Android and not add features that infringe Apple’s patents, which is a mighty big assumption.

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