Samsung To Face EU Antitrust Complaint Over Apple Patent Dispute

Now we know why Samsung decided to withdraw its patent lawsuits against Apple that sought to ban iDevices in the EU. Samsung thought it would be better to withdraw the suits, as most of them were based on SEP patents owned by the South Korean company. Why did they decide this was the best option? Because the EU antitrust commission will file a complaint over its user of SEP patents in its legal disputes with Apple, Bloomberg reports.

“We will issue a statement of objections very soon,” European Union’s competition chief Joaquin Almunia said said, referring to the Commission’s charge sheet.

In other words, Samsung’s actions aimed to satisfy EU regulators, instead of a fair play. Well, a forced fair play, as both tech companies are fighting for market share and they fight for this in court as well, as both companies are accusing each other of intellectual property violations.

Samsung’s injunction request raised concern among EU antitrust investigators. These concerns stem from the South Korean manufacturer’s several standard-essential patents in its portfolio (for wireless communication) and triggered an investigation into whether Samsung abused these patents in its litigation against Apple, instead of licensing — complying with market rules — on a fair, reasonable, non-discriminatory terms, or FRAND.