Google backing Samsung in the war on Apple
Evidence has emerged showing that Google is obligated to financially back Samsung in its ongoing court battle with Apple.
Emails between Samsung and Google have revealed that the Android developer has agreed to support the handset manufacturer with costs as a case concerning patent infringement drags on.
According to the terms of a 2012 Mobile Application Distribution Agreement between the two companies, Google will help Samsung with its ongoing legal costs and even compensate the company in the event that it loses the case to Apple.
The agreement is mainly designed to encourage Samsung along a slightly more compliant path and continue to feature Google’s default applications on its devices alongside its own custom offerings. Google’s ongoing legal support appears to be the carrot in this particular case.
In particular, the agreement states that Google will back Samsung on two specific patents concerning universal search. Only one of these patents continues to be under dispute in the Samsung vs Apple court case.
There are no specific amounts discussed in these exchanges, so the scale of Google's financial assistance is unknown at this point.
What is known is that Apple wants more than $2 billion in damages from Samsung for infringing on a number of its patents dating back to 2011.
While Google and its Android team are not directly on trial here, a number of Android personnel have been called to the stand to testify in the case and defend some of the platform’s core features.
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Via: The Verge