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Samsung drops European patent lawsuits against Apple (update: maybe not completely)
Samsung has stated that it will withdraw from its patent battles with Apple that cover infringement issues in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Halting its injunction requests was apparently "in the interest of protecting consumer choice " and comes soon after a recent update to the Apple-Samsung court battle in the US where the judge ruled that it wouldn't be banning the sale of over 20 Samsung devices. The company added: "We strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court."
Update: Just in case you thought this saga would eventually die and be forgotten, Foss Patents has taken a slightly less optimistic perspective. He points out that although Samsung says it's dropping all its European injunction requests, such that it won't seek to ban the sale of Apple products, the company doesn't say that it'll stop pushing for financial compensation through the courts. Meanwhile, Bloomberg has updated its own article to reflect this.
