Samsung Drops Injunction Applications Against Apple

Samsung will drop its injunction applications against Apple in five European countries, in a major U-turn in a long-running patents war between the electronics giants.

The South Korean company will drop injunction applications in Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and the Netherlands, a senior executive told The Wall Street Journal. But it will continue to pursue lawsuits in Europe, where it alleges infringements on its products, it said. Samsung has been locked in a battle with Apple over standard-essential patents both in the U.S. and Europe. The South Korean company has focused its lawsuits on technology patents rather than those covering design, as Apple has done, while the two firms slug it out for dominance in the smartphone and tablet markets. While Samsung was dealt a heavy blow in the US, courts have sided with it in some other jurisdictions, such as the UK.