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Apple licensed patents to Microsoft for steep fee, claims 'shock' over Samsung designs

by Chloe Albanesius, 14 Aug, 2012 News
Apple licensed patents to Microsoft for steep fee, claims 'shock' over Samsung designs

Samsung and Apple have continued to reveal juicy company secrets in filings for their ongoing patent trial, from how much Apple demands in licensing fees to why customers selected Android over iPhone.

In documentation submitted last week by Apple, Cupertino revealed that its licensing rates are $30 (£19) per smartphone and $40 per tablet. That includes touch-screen smartphones based on Android, Symbian, Samsung's bada OS, and Windows that utilized Apple-held technology. The $40 per touch-screen tablet, meanwhile, would reduce to $30 (£25) over two years, court filings revealed.

According to AllThingsD, Apple offered to give Samsung a 20 per cent discount if they reached a cross-licensing deal. But the two sides were unable to reach an agreement before trial despite multi-day settlement talks.

Meanwhile, Apple's Boris Teksler testified today that Apple licensed its design patents to Microsoft but included an "anti-cloning agreement" that would ban the "slavish" copying of which Apple is accusing Samsung, Reuters reported.

According to Bloomberg, Teksler told the court that the introduction of the Galaxy line-up prompted Steve Jobs to confront Samsung about its devices. "We were quite shocked" by the similarities, Teksler said.

As noted by CNET, meanwhile, Samsung pointed to an Apple internal document that said people selected Android phones over the iPhone because they wanted to stick with their carrier. The study was conducted in 2010 and published in January 2011, at which point AT&T was only carrier offering the iPhone. Also topping the list of reasons to go Android were the Google brand and bigger screens.

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