Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. [corporate websites] on Friday agreed to drop their appeals of a patent-infringement case at the US International Trade Commission (ITC) [official website] that resulted in an import ban on some older model Samsung phones. Samsung has been seeking to overturn the ban, while Apple was trying to revive other patent claims it had lost. The import ban will remain in effect, according to a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website]. Last month, both companies blamed each other for their inability to reach a global settlement. Appeals of district court cases between Apple and Samsung are still pending.
Samsung and Apple have had numerous disputes [JURIST op-ed] over intellectual property in judicial forums all over the globe. The litigation began [JURIST report] in 2011 when both companies filed lawsuits against the other over the design and functionality of their devices. The success of either party has also varied with the forum. Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed without comment [JURIST report] an ITC decision finding that Apple did not infringe upon Samsung Electronics patents. The ITC had previously found last June that Apple infringed on a separate Samsung patent and issued a ban [JURIST report] on the importation of AT&T models of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G, effectively ending their sale in the US as the devices are manufactured in China. The Obama administration overturned the ban later that year. Earlier in May, a jury ordered Samsung to pay [JURIST report] Apple $119.6 million for infringement of two of Apple’s smartphone patents. In March a US district court denied Apple’s request for an injunction [JURIST report] against three Samsung touchscreen software features, which were found to have infringed on Apple patents. In February a US district court judge issued [JURIST report] an order denying a request by Samsung for a retrial in its patent dispute with Apple, meaning that the award of $290 million in damages will stand. In November a jury awarded [JURIST report] Apple $290 million after finding that Samsung copied a number of iPhone features. That same month the Federal Circuit ordered [JURIST report] the reconsideration of Apple’s request for an injunction against Samsung products based on allegations of utility patent infringement.