Samsung Gives Up On Trying To Block Apple

Yesterday, we reported that Judge Lucy Koh had submitted two post-trial orders that denied Apple a permanent injunction against Samsung, and that denied Samsung's request for a new trial by reason of jury misconduct. Following this, Samsung has now dropped its efforts to get sales bans against the iPhone and iPad in the EU using standard-essential patents. Says the Wall Street Journal, this move was likely performed to get regulators to ease up on their investigation.

Back in August, a jury ruled that Samsung had willfully violated many Apple patents, with the latter company being awarded $1 billion in damages. Despite the infringement ruling, Judge Koh denied Apple's request to have 26 Samsung products permanently blocked, something that would have given Apple a strategic upper hand in this back-and-forth legal game.

Said Koh, Samsung no longer has 23 of the 26 products available for sale, and of those remaining, the Korean company utilizes software specifically designed to work around Apple's patents. The big reason for her ruling, however, had to do with Apple itself; or rather, with Apple's failure to prove that Samsung's actions in infringing the company's patents resulted in decreased iOS device sales.

Samsung has been trying to get injunctions against the iPhone and iPad throughout Europe, in such locations as the UK, France, and Germany, using standard essential patents as the reason. While it seems the company is still running on its usual course in all other locations, it decided to drop its injunction efforts in Europe, citing reasons that it is "in the interest of consumer choice." The Korean company will still be going ahead with the lawsuit against Apple, however.

[via WSJ]