Apple And Samsung Considering Settlement?

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We’ve been watching the escalation between Apple and Samsung pretty closely out here, and the latest news has often been disturbing. But there’s a new report that says top brass at Apple and Samsung alike are hashing things out currently in a way to stop their ongoing patent wars.

Language in the emerging briefs suggested that the heads of both companies were currently in private talks to get the whole affair (which was starting to get a bit intense) out of court, following Apple suing Samsung over the Galaxy line and a whole lot of others, with Samsung quickly pointing out there are more than a few Samsung patents contained in Apple gear and suing in response.

A judge in the case actually wondered why the two companies were fighting it out in court instead of using arbitration or something similar (especially considering that Apple is Samsung’s second biggest customer, at last report), even going so far as to somewhat facetiously suggest she send a lawyer around with “make up chocolates”.

And indeed, it’s been an issue that’s made the tech community as a whole wonder for some time now. Some have suggested that this is a proxy fight between Apple and Google over the Android operating system, and that’s certainly not out of line to suggest the possibility. Apple’s out to protect its turf, and a whole lot of its turf is made up by iOS devices these days, from the App Store to iTunes to the hardware on which they run: iPod Touches, iPads and iPhones.

But what do you guys think? What’s got Apple going after a company it’s been providing a whole lot of cash to for some time? Some of you, I know from earlier comments, believe Samsung’s doing a lot of copying, but how much of that copying is Samsung using the stuff it supplies to Apple? It’s a big issue with a lot of room for discussion, so head on down into the comments section and tell us what you think!