Samsung drops injunctions against Apple in five countries
updated 11:46 am EST, Tue December 18, 2012
Lawsuits still being pursued, Samsung says
Samsung has dropped patent injunction applications against Apple in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, a senior executive tells the Wall Street Journal. All of the injunctions were related to wireless communications. Samsung notes that despite the withdrawal of the applications -- which is said to have been voluntary -- lawsuits accusing Apple of patent infringement remain ongoing.
Samsung has refused to say whether or not the injunctions were pulled because of out-of-court negotiations with Apple. "Samsung remains committed to licensing our technologies on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, and we strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court," an official Samsung statement reads. "In this spirit, Samsung has decided to withdraw our injunction requests against Apple on the basis of our standard-essential patents pending in European courts, in the interest of protecting consumer choice."
Apple recently settled all of its lawsuits with HTC, but Samsung has vowed to fight on, in spite of suffering a major defeat in the US that could cost it upwards of $1 billion. At the same time, companies will often maintain an aggressive position in public while being open to a settlement behind the scenes. Apple has shown no signs of backing down from its lawsuits against Samsung.
