Samsung Looks to 'Compete Fairly' with Apple (AAPL) in EU; Drops Injunctions in 5 Countries
Earlier in the session, Samsung said it would drop requests for legal injunctions in five European Union (EU) countries. (Note: it was earlier reported that Samsung would drop lawsuits in Europe. That was incorrect.)
The injunctions will be dropped in Italy, The U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, and France, according to the WSJ, citing a Samsung exec on the information.
In a statement today, Samsung said, "Samsung remains committed to licensing our technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, and we strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court. 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."
The news comes one day following Samsung prevailing against Apple over the potential ban of 26 Samsung devices in the U.S. The decision came following a ruling last August which also put the South Korean electronics giant with a $1 billion fine. Samsung plans to appeal the verdict to get the fine lowered.
Shares of Apple are 0.9 percent higher in early trading.