New information in the Apple V. Samsung trial suggests that Apple offered Samsung an opportunity to license some of its patents as far back as 2010, which could have kept the company out of its current legal trouble.

The proposal would have allowed Samsung to pay a $30 fee for each smartphone it sold and $40 for each tablet. In addition, Apple was willing to undercut that price if Samsung would cross-license some of its own patents for use by the Cupertino company. In August of 2010, Apple had already suspected Samsung of infringing upon its IP portfolio. On October 5th 2010, Apple created a presentation for Samsung and put forward the aforementioned licensing deal.

Interestingly, Apple notes that if Samsung had gone through with the deal, it would have cost just $250 million in 2010, much less than Apple was paying Samsung for iPhone components. Apple patent licensing director Boris Teskler took the stand Friday and said to the jury, ”We didn’t understand how a trusted partner would build a copycat product like that.”

Furthermore, after cross-examining Teskler, Samsung has nearly reached its 25-hour limit that Lucy Koh allots for examining witnesses and that’s before it even starts presenting its side of the case to the court on Monday. Until now, Samsung has been unable to catch a break, but unless it can provide some overwhelming evidence in their favor, things aren’t looking good.

Do you think this declined licensing deal serves as the proverbial nail in the coffin for Samsung? Can they still pull out a victory? Let us know in the comments below.

AllThingsD