Round 2- Apple vs Google. Or Maybe Not?
Cecil is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
Patent litigation right now is one of the major concerns for almost any manufacturer while trying to release a state of the art gadget. Apple in its very typical "GEEKY" approach seems to have drawn a line after the whole Samsung-Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) lawsuit which no company would want to cross. Samsung was found guilty and is set to pay $1.05 billion as damages by verdict of Judge Lucy Koh. This is turning out to be a major concern for almost every smartphone company who would pose a threat to Apple.
Now why would Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) be a part of this whole drama? Well Samsung uses Google's Android operating system and the whole lawsuit revolves around features and technology of not just the hardware but also the software in these smartphones. Steve Jobs has often quoted Android as a "Stolen product" and that Google can expect a "thermonuclear war" against it. Honestly it is pretty surprising to see Samsung fight the first battle, everyone expected Apple to go after Google first because Android is being used not just in Samsung but a lot of other big smartphone companies. Samsung did take the pole position in smartphone sales which probably is the reason Apple went all guns blazing at Samsung.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page have been reported that they are in talks with regards to intellectual property issues, as per sources these talks were held last week. The talk of the town is that Google might opt to settle this dispute. This option might help Google save a lot, litigation fees and the potential verdict in terms of damages would be a pretty huge figure. It's pretty obvious that Google would not want to go down that lane, hence settlement is definitely on the cards.
Though talks are going on between both company CEO's there is absolutely no love lost between the two of them. Apple is trying its very best to stop implementing any of Google’s product pre-loaded on their devices. All this while Apple gadgets were powered with Google maps as a part of their navigation software, Apple has officially announced that they would be implementing their own Apple maps into their product. Apart from this, all upcoming iDevices would not have YouTube preloaded in them. This is a major step taken by Apple as both these features are key features in almost all of their gadgets.
Depending on what the terms are, a settlement is what can be expected. The Apple-Samsung lawsuit itself was a very powerful message put across by Apple; they clearly are going to claim whatever they feel is their property. On the contrary if Apple is asking for too much and if Google prefers to take this to court then Apple would have to put up a very strong fight as other companies which implement Google products on their devices would lend a helping hand in whichever way possible. An Apple monopoly is something that is feared by every gadget manufacturing company out there. As long as Apple plays their cards right and doesn't get too demanding, a settlement is what everyone can expect.
