Week 4 Blog 2 - Apple Wins?

HTC and Apple were going under a large number of patent disputes starting in 2010. It all started when Apple filed lawsuits against HTC, claiming that they infringed upon about 20 of their patents relating to iOS. For two years, they have gone back and forth with suing each other.
However, last November, both companies were able to settle down, as they dismissed all of their lawsuits against each other. They also agreed to a ten year licensing agreement, so they will be able to use each other's patents. In other words, we should not see these two companies fighting each other anytime soon. Although details about the settlement were not released, analysts claim that Apple will receive around $8 in licensing fees for every HTC smartphone sold.
It's unclear what exactly enabled them to come to terms with each other, but it is most likely the amount of money both of these companies were wasting just because of lawsuits. Apple reportedly burned 100 million dollars against HTC just in the first round of their legal battle. But now, since Apple is going to receive those licensing fees for every HTC smartphone sold, its looks like they'll get their 100 million back: those licensing fees will add up to around 280 million dollars a year!

http://androidcommunity.com/htc-and-apple-settle-patent-issues-agree-to-10-year-licensing-deal-20121110/