Samsung's Olive Branch Won't End Apple War

SYDNEY, Australia (TheStreet) - Samsung's reported olive branch to Apple (AAPL) in the companies' Australian dispute should not be seen as a thaw in their global patent war, according to IP consultant Florian Mueller.

"It seems to me that the scope of a legal settlement in Australia would be very narrow," he told TheStreet. "At the most, it would settle the litigation in Australia -- but they still wouldn't be any closer to a worldwide settlement of all issues."

Apple is locked in a global patent war with Samsung.

Samsung made a proposal to Apple to resolve the patent row over touchscreen technology in its Galaxy Tab 10.1, according to Bloomberg, which said that details of the offer were not revealed. Apple's lawyer reportedly told the court that the iPad maker needs time to consider the proposal.

Last month Samsung agreed to delay the launch of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia because of the Apple patent dispute, part of a sprawling worldwide IP clash between the tech giants.

Clearly keen to start selling its tablet in Australia, Samsung agreed earlier this week to withdraw two features from the Galaxy Tab 10.1 which allegedly infringed Apple's patents, according to Bloomberg. This, it reported, reduced the dispute to one patent, although the IT News Web site reports that an additional manufacturing patent is yet to be resolved.

Mueller, however, notes that a resolution down under would have little impact on the broader struggle between Apple and Samsung, which spans courts on four continents. "It's just about one or two patents," he told TheStreet, noting that small concessions, even on procedural matters, are common in IP rows. "[But] I don't see Apple waiving its right to enforce its thousands of other patents around the world anytime soon."

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company, for example, won a court ruling in Germany last month to block sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and a bruising legal encounter between the two companies kicked off in the Netherlands this week. Samsung is attempting to ban iPhone and iPad sales in the country.

A looming American patent battle, scheduled for mid-October, looks set to further escalate the Apple/Samsung dispute. Earlier this year Apple filed a motion with the U.S. District Court of Northern California for a preliminary injunction against four Samsung products: the Infuse 4G, Galaxy S 4G and Droid Charge smartphones, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Neither Apple nor Samsung have responded to TheStreet's request for comment on this story.

Apple shares dipped $3.71, or 0.96%, to $386.86 on Friday, as the Nasdaq slipped 0.88%.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

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