It’s fair to say, Apple (and all us fans) are getting sick to the back teeth of being involved in patent lawsuits. We recently heard that Cupertino managed to patch up its relationship with HTC, with the two companies agreeing to a 10-year cross-licensing deal. It looks now as if Motorola and Apple could be heading along similar lines. Almost.

Instead of going to a major court to have a judge rule over them like the huge Samsung case, the two companies look like they’ll be going down the arbitration route. My mind’s not the sharpest when it comes to legal terminology, so I looked “arbitration” up to see what it meant. Essentially, the two companies go to a third party outside of the court system, and place their evidence. Whatever this third party decides is the final answer and both companies have to agree. In its basic element, it’s like a divorcing couple going to a counsellor to resolve differences.

What this all boils down to, is that Apple doesn’t want to pay anymore than $1 per iPhone sold for the Motorola standards-essential patents (patents they have no choice but to use to achieve specific goals). Motorola wants more alimony (2.25% of each device’s worth).

If all goes well, this could end up in a global result similar to that of the HTC verdict. Once it’s settled, there’ll be no more litigation between the two American companies.

Via: AppleInsider