It’s looking like Samsung and Apple got a bit carried away there for a while. Apparently the web of litigation surrounding the mobile giants has become too complicated for Samsung, who has chosen to drop one of its counter-suits against Apple. Specifically, the South Korea-based company will dismiss its counter-suit against Apple’s original April filing alleging that the Galaxy line of phones and tablets mimic the iPad and iPhone.
Nam Ki Yung, a spokesman for Samsung, today explained to Bloomberg that the company dropped the suit “to streamline legal proceedings.” However, this one suit won’t slim down Samsung or Apple’s legal files any time soon. The companies are wrapped up in litigation in five different countries, including Germany, South Korea, the U.K., Japan, and of course, here in the States. “Samsung will continue to actively defend and protect our intellectual property,” said Mr. Nam.
This is just the latest in a string of patent suits and counter-suits between the two tech giants. Most recently, Samsung revised its patent violation allegations against Apple, and added sarcastically that what Apple is perceiving as “copyist,” is merely competition, despite “Apple’s efforts to avoid such competition.” Hopefully Samsung’s streamlined vision will end this copycat drama once and for all.
[via Bloomberg]