Apple and Google call truce

Apple Inc and Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit have agreed to dismiss all patent litigation between them over smartphones. The filing was made at a federal appeals court in Washington on Friday.

The legal dispute, one of the highest-profile lawsuits in technology, began in 2010 when Motorola - purchased by Google in 2012 - and Apple began fighting over smart phone patents.

Motorola accused Apple of infringing on several patents while Apple, the manufacturer of the iPhone, said Motorola violated its patents for certain smartphone features.

The cases were dismissed in a Chicago federal court in 2012 shortly before trial, citing insufficient evidence. However, last month the appeals court gave Apple another chance to win a sales ban against Motorola.

This year, Google announced it was selling Motorola Mobility's handset business to Lenovo but would be keeping the vast majority of the patents.

"Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform," a joint statement from the two companies said. The deal does not, however, apply to Apple's litigation against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Apple and companies that make phones using Google's rival Android operating system have filed dozens of such lawsuits against one another in a bid to protect their technology.

hc/av (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)