THE COURTROOM battle in San Diego was supposed to last for weeks, if not months. It was over on the first day, April 16th. Evan Chester, a lawyer for Qualcomm, a big chip designer, had only a few minutes left in his riposte to Ruffin Cordell, who represented Apple, a hardware giant, when it emerged that the two firms had agreed to a settlement. This included a one-off payment from Apple to Qualcomm and the decision to "dismiss all litigation between the two companies worldwide". After a brief conference with the lawyers, the judge called off the trial and sent the jurors home.
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