Apple, GT Advanced Revise Settlement Terms, Reveals Confidential Details

GT advanced

All but two documents must be unsealed by November 7, ruled federal judge Henry J. Boroff yesterday, reports Bloomberg. The ruling puts an end to the secrecy around the deal inked between GT Advanced and Apple.

You may recall that since last November when the two signed the deal, rumours of sapphire crystal-screen iPhones have made waves and the sapphire maker has seen its stock price rising, fueled by those rumours.

With every rise comes a fall, as well: Since Apple opted not to use a sapphire display with the iPhone 6, GTA’s stock price dropped, and the manufacturer shocked the tech world with its surprise Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on October 6.

Since then, multiple reports have surfaced about the “burdensome” contract with Apple that GTA failed to meet, but it couldn’t disclose, saying it might be penalized $50 million per violation for breaking confidentiality agreements.

What seems to be certain, though, is that the two have settled, but the new agreement was originally subject to keeping a “statement by a GT Advanced executive under court seal”.

The settlement would free GT Advanced from exclusivity agreements with Apple, give it control of its sapphire-manufacturing patents, and let it retain ownership and sales rights for production furnaces in Mesa, Arizona.

After analyzing the case, Judge Boroff found that there are two documents that contain “confidential commercial information”, so those remain under seal, but the rest, including the statement, can go public. Following the ruling, GT Advanced issued a press release yesterday saying that the settlement agreement will survive unsealing.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. today announced that it has signed an amendment to the Settlement Agreement with Apple under which both parties have agreed to waive the condition that GT’s October 8th declaration be kept under seal and expunged. GT has filed a motion seeking Bankruptcy Court approval of the Settlement Agreement and the Bankruptcy Court is scheduled to hear such motion on November 25, 2014.

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