A U.S. Judge demanded that Apple disclose their 10-year patent license agreement with smartphone manufacturer HTC to Samsung, their main legal rival in patent lawsuits. Samsung claimed the settlement was needed to prove that Apple's claimed losses from patent violations were far less than claimed - if Apple is willing to license the patents out, they can't be too important to stay competitive.
Samsung (and the general public) have no idea what patents are included in the HTC-Apple deal but Samsung suspects some of the patents licensed to HTC from Apple are the same as those Apple is using against them in a major patent lawsuit.
The court demanded that Apple produce the full settlement without delay but they don't have to disclose it to everyone - just Attorney's in the legal case who won't be allowed the leak any information to the general public.
Apple's agreement with HTC closed a huge lawsuit that many regard as the first global smartphone patent war - it started back in 2010 and the companies frequently fought each other in court. Since then Apple has sued many other smartphone manufacturers - Samsung and Motorola Mobility are some of the biggest cases. Samsung's battle with Apple has lasted nearly one and a half years.
