Apple exec: Samsung offered patent deal

An Apple executive testified in San Jose Steve Jobs secretly offered Samsung a licensing deal Apple's patented technology for touchscreen iPhones and tablets. Borks Teksler, director of patent licensing strategy at Apple, told a federal court jury Friday that in early 2010, Apple already suspected Samsung was infringing on its patents as it developed the Android phone and put together a royalty proposal for Samsung. Samsung supplied chips and other parts for Apple devices and also builds the popular Android smart phone, which uses a Google operating system and is a major competitor of the iPhone. Apple alleges the Android makes liberal and unauthorized use of Apple's patented technology. "We didn't understand how a trusted partner would build a copycat product like that," Teksler told the jury. Teksler said Jobs and current Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Samsung executives in autumn 2010 and offered the Korean company a deal in which they would pay Apple $30 per phone and $40 per tablet in royalties, a deal Samsung turned down. Fortune magazine said the royalties would have amounted to as much as $288 million in 2010 alone. Apple has since sued for $2.5 billion in lost sales, an amount that could be trebled by the court if the jury rules in Apple's favor. The trial resumes Monday.