And there is another alternative: Apple could ultimately seek a patent cross-licensing deal with Google despite its late chief executive Steve Jobs' vow to "destroy Android".
The deal also extends the existing patent cross-licensing deal between the two companies, and includes a NAND flash memory supply agreement for Samsung to provide chips to Seagate for solid-state drives and other products.
Companies have also learned to work cooperatively to achieve their strategic IP goals by leveraging defensive patent pools, covenants not to sue, and creative cross-licensing models.