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Landmark Settlement of Apple v. Qualcomm Gives U.S. Cellular Industry a Way Forward
A legal showdown that had reached maximum intensity ended peacefully last week. The suit and countersuit between Apple — the giant smartphone maker — and Qualcomm — the supplier of much of the technology that makes a smartphone smart — settled a bit beyond the proverbial and literal courthouse steps this past Tuesday.
A bit beyond because, even though the key parties — not the jurors, the press, nor the pubic, but the attorneys, management on both sides, and even Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel of the U.S. District Court of Southern California, in whose forum the case was going forward — knew the settlement was afoot, the judge insisted that unless all the ‘t’s were crossed, opening arguments should begin.
Judge Curiel is now a rockstar. Understated as ever, this obscure jurist on the California bench was elevated to international fame when then-candidate Donald Trump took reputational aim at him in an effort to deflect culpability in the Trump University case, which later settled with a fine. In the weird logic of branding in the United States, that ethnic smear worked in favor of Judge Curiel. Go figure.
It was a pleasure to sit in his court and watch his affable but serious demeanor as he gave the jury their initial instructions. The courtroom was tiny, and…
