Apple simplifies its ITC suit against Samsung: drops one patent and several claims from two more

While there's been plenty of legal wrangling between Apple and Samsung in Federal courtrooms lately, it's been awhile since we've had news from the parties' parallel proceedings occurring in the ITC. No longer. Last week, Apple received a favorable outcome when the ITC issued its claim construction order, siding with Apple's interpretations of two patents -- for those who aren't familiar, claim construction is the process by which the judge determines the meaning of specific terms in the claims, and it often has great influence on findings of infringement (or non-infringement). The judge found in favor of Samsung regarding one patent in his claim construction order, however, and now Apple has dropped that patent from the proceedings, along with claims from two of its other patents as well. This latest legal maneuvering by Cupertino is pretty standard fare, as paring down the legal issues is something all courts encourage to make the adjudication process more efficient, and Apple is simply distilling its case down to its strongest arguments. Now that the claim construction's complete, next on the docket is the ITC's evidentiary hearing (read: trial) starting May 31st, and afterwards we'll finally get the ITC's decision. Stay tuned.