Filing Reveals Google and Rockstar Have Agreed to Settle Patent Litigation

According to a court filing made public this week, Google has agreed to settle litigation with Rockstar, a patent consortium which counts Apple as an investor. Reuters is reporting that even though terms of the deal have not been disclosed, both parties have “agreed to settle all matters in controversy”, according to a recent filing in a Texas federal court.

Last year, Rockstar sued Google and several handset manufacturers whose phones operate on Google’s Android operating system. Rockstar accused Google of infringing seven Nortel patents, all related to search engine technology. While the two parties have now agreed to settle on undisclosed terms, the filing has not revealed whether Rockstar has also settled or not with handset makers, including Samsung.

“Google and Rockstar have reached a term sheet, which will be “reduced to a definitive agreement” over the next few weeks, the court filing said. Rockstar sued several handset makers over a different batch of patents. Google then asked a California judge to rule that devices using the Android platform had not infringed the patents cited by Rockstar against the handset makers. Google succeeded in halting the Texas proceedings against the handset makers while its California case plays out.”

Cisco announced a few weeks back it had signed a term sheet with Rockstar and would take a $188 million charge related to that agreement.