Apple's University Village store. (Credit: Apple)
Apple’s University Village store. (Credit: Apple)

Apple and Google have reached a settlement in a series of fierce patent battles — marking a major legal truce between the companies responsible for the leading smartphone platforms.

The two companies told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today that they have agreed to drop all outstanding patent litigation — although they stopped short of licensing their patent portfolios to each other.

“Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that exist directly between the two companies,” the two companies said. “Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform. The agreement does not include a cross license.”

The agreement, first spotted by Reuters, brings a multi-year, trans-continental patent fight to a close. Both companies brought patent actions against one another to U.S. courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, as well as German authorities.

While this ends Google’s patent fight, the future of Apple’s patent litigation over Android is still unclear. The company still has a series of outstanding, high-profile lawsuits against Samsung over features of Android, which will probably continue for several years into the future.

It will also be interesting to see what this settlement means for the two companies’ efforts with regards to patent reform. Both have previously invested in Bellevue-based patent holding company Intellectual Ventures, though they declined to join IV’s most recent round.

The agreement from the two companies can be found below.

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