Apple seeks up to $15 per Android device in settlements offered to Motorola, Samsung
Apple has reportedly offered settlements to Motorola and Samsung in patent infringement suits against its rivals, and has asked for between $5 and $15 per handset.
Apple's apparent willingness to cut deals with its competitors was revealed on Tuesday by Dow Jones Newswires, which cited anonymous sources who indicated Apple has put forth proposals to both Motorola Mobility and Samsung Electronics.
The settlements offered by Apple allegedly seek royalty payments and other terms from both companies. It was said that Apple has asked for between $5 and $15 per handset for some of the patents in one negotiation, which would amount to between 1 percent and 2.5 percent of sales per device.
If true, the number is similar to what Motorola has sought in its own proposed settlement with Apple. Motorola revealed in court filings in February that it has asked for 2.25 percent of Apple's sales of wireless devices in exchange for a patent license covering its standard-essential intellectual property.
According to Dow Jones, Apple already had negotiations with companies, including Samsung, before it decided to turn to litigation. The iPhone maker first sued Samsung last April, accusing the company of copying the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad.
It's unknown whether settlement negotiations between Apple and its rivals are currently taking place, the report said. People familiar with the issue portrayed it as part of an "ongoing process."
Patent infringement suits have become commonplace in the wireless industry, as many companies that design and sell smartphones are involved in litigation with one another in complaints lodged around the world.
Apple's disputes with Motorola and Samsung are of particular interest for their own reasons. Motorola is a newly acquired subsidiary of Google, the maker of Android, while Samsung, in addition to competing with Apple, is one of the company's chief suppliers of components like displays, flash memory and chips.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
Well, Apple offers premium products, and now, premium patents
Simply on principle, Apple should be demanding at least $100/per handset. Hell, $200. Shut em out as far as I'm concerned. Let them go back to their blackberry clone before Schmidt caught wind of what Apple did.
Simply on principle, Apple should be demanding at least $100/per handset. Hell, $200. Shut em out as far as I'm concerned. Let them go back to their blackberry clone before Schmidt caught wind of what Apple did.
Ironically the competition their copying came with is a good thing for all iOS users.
Then again, Microsoft gets $5 from HTC per Android sold.
What Motorola has sought in its proposed settlement is nothing like what Apple wants. Apple is in no way obligated to license it's patents whereas Motorola's patents are on FRAND terms and has no choice but to license them.
Not all Motorola patents are pledged to standards. Even patents that are part of standards didn't stop Microsoft and Nokia from suing Apple last week using another package of Nokia's FRAND-pledged patents. It happens.
Anyway, similar to Apple's cross-licensing with Nokia, the company with the stronger patents will end up getting a small royalty. My guess would be Motorola paying a smaller fee than Samsung if there's any truth to the report to begin with.
Settling doesn't sound like something Apple's co-founder would have done.
What Motorola has sought in its proposed settlement is nothing like what Apple wants. Apple is in no way obligated to license it's patents whereas Motorola's patents are on FRAND terms and has no choice but to license them.
Perfectly and accurately stated!
I can't believe they had negotiations prior to Job's passing. But it looks like a good solution to Samsung et.al. - though $15 will be hard to swallow.
Then again, Microsoft gets $5 from HTC per Android sold.
Apple may have had to set a price to establish the value lost due to infringement. At $15 they were making it too painful to agree to, but it did show the courts that Apple was trying to be fair.
<snigger, snigger>
"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong" - Steve Jobs
Settling doesn't sound like something Apple's co-founder would have done.
Death by strangulation.
That is different than so many smartphones that existed around the time iPhone came out, they never patented many key areas and are now subjected to patent suits if Apple decides to purse them.
I think Motorola won't settle because Google wants to play this thing out to the bitter end.
"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong" - Steve Jobs
Settling doesn't sound like something Apple's co-founder would have done.
That was something the author of the book he said heard Jobs say. Did any one else hear it?
Secondly, Job said to numerous other people at Apple that he didn't want everyone standing around asking "what would have Steve done?" because he thought this line of thinking would eventually lead to Apple's downfall as he illustrated with various other companies.
Android is probably impossible to kill right now by litigation. As others on here have pointed out, it will help strangle them while Apple competes on substance.
I'd be happy if Apple gets even the minimum in royalty fees. At least Google and Android won't get away completely. Every little bit of interference will help to slow Android's momentum down. Eventually Android OS will be modified enough where they won't have to pay Apple anything and Apple will get what it was originally after.
Add Microsoft's royalties and sometime in the near future Oracle's for Google stealing Java. It'll be too costly to go with Android eventually. Around 7% royalty payments or more for each handset. It MS plays nice it could undercut that with Windows Phone OS licensing.
What Motorola has sought in its proposed settlement is nothing like what Apple wants. Apple is in no way obligated to license it's patents whereas Motorola's patents are on FRAND terms and has no choice but to license them.
Keep in mind that Motorola wanted 2.25% for a single patent - which would be about $15 per handset. And that's a FRAND-encumbered patent.
Apple is being more than fair.
Better than going thermonuclear but $15 doesn't seem like a lot of money to me. Apple should have demanded more. Still, if Motorola and Samsung combined sell about 50 million Android devices per quarter that will add up to about 750 million dollars per quarter.
Fifteen dollars on the COST of the product will translate to two or three times that amount to the customer. AND 'no' that difference is not profit.
Keep in mind that Motorola wanted 2.25% for a single patent - which would be about $15 per handset. And that's a FRAND-encumbered patent.
Apple is being more than fair.
The 2.25% was for Motorola's group of patents pledged to the 3G standard. Otherwise it would make no sense since they could come after Apple for another 2.25% for another patent in the standards-pledged group later, then another, then another. . .
A few days ago I challenged your claim that Motorola and Google announced they wanted 2.25% for each individual patent in the standards pool. If there were 100 that would mean they wanted 225%, plainly ridiculous. I said at that time they had not made any such statement, so you still have the opportunity to prove me wrong.
Fandroids should realize that they're using devices which infringe upon other people's intellectual property, and they should pay accordingly.
The future looks great. Imagine some cheap ass Android phone being sold and $5 goes to Microsoft, $15 goes to Apple, and $20 goes to Oracle!
The patent to automatically recognize a phone number in an email or text so it can be saved to contacts which they supposedly won against HTC and of which HTC has already worked around? The ipad design patent Apple supposed got an injunction against Samsung which was then quickly worked around in the 10.1N model?
What these lawsuits prove is that there are so many layers into what a patent entails. You have to be very specific in what you're trying to patent and it's in the details that competitors can work around your patent or a judge can say "no, it doesn't meet all the requirements of your patent."
These lawsuits are nothing more than nuisance to these mutibillion dollar companies. If on the other hand you're a small company these lawsuits can break your company.
The 2.25% was for Motorola's group of patents pledged to the 3G standard. Otherwise it would make no sense since they could come after Apple for another 2.25% for another patent in the standards-pledged group later, then another, then another. . .
A few days ago I challenged your claim that Motorola and Google announced they wanted 2.25% for each individual patent in the standards pool. If there were 100 that would mean they wanted 225%, plainly ridiculous. I said at that time they had not made any such statement, so you still have the opportunity to prove me wrong.
http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2012...cement-of.html
In this article, Motorola is described as using a "it only takes one bullet to kill" and demanded the same 2.25% royalty for only 2 patents being asserted, instead of the whole patent pool. This isn't directly related to Apple, but it's where the sentiment comes from.
I don't believe they want 2.25% for *each* patent, but that they value anything from a single patent to an entire pool of patents at the same rate.