Apple and Samsung Will Try to Talk Out Their Legal Fight

Time for a mediation session

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Apple and Samsung have agreed to hold a court-suggested mediation session in the next five weeks to try to talk out their legal disputes regarding smartphone patents.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon, along with in-house lawyers for both companies, will attempt to resolve their issues in a meeting to be held by Feb. 19, according to a court filing Wednesday. That’s ahead of their next March court date, Reuters reports. Lucy Koh, the federal judge who encouraged the companies to enter mediation, conceded it would be a heavy lift when she recommended it, saying at the time, “you don’t have to laugh at me, but even my chambers laughs at me when I mention settlement.”

A series of patent infringement lawsuits and counter-suits began in 2011. The two sides have met in mediation sessions before to no avail.

[Reuters]