Apple withdraws Galaxy S3 Mini from Samsung patent lawsuit

The US-based electronic behemoth Apple has dropped patent claim against South Korea-based Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S3 Mini. Apple asked the United States District Court for the Northern District of California to pull Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini from patent lawsuit, according to the foreign media including Reuters on December 28 (local time).

Apple agreed to withdraw the Galaxy S3 Mini from a patent-infringement lawsuit against Samsung because of Samsung's representation that it was not "making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the Galaxy S3 Mini in the United States." The Galaxy S3 Mini, released in October, is the smaller version of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S3 equipped with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and four-inch display. It targets the North American and European markets, not available for sales in the Korean market.

On November, Apple had asked to add the Mini and Samsung's recently released products to its complaint including the Galaxy Note2, Galaxy S3 (on Jelly Bean mobile operating system), Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab2 10.1 and Rugby Pro (four-inch Android smart phone) in its filing in the US Court.

"The latest action does not mean that Apple will rule out any possibility of legal actions against the Galaxy S3 Mini," an official of Apple note. "We will have in talks with Apple on the scope of patent lawsuit before the second phase of the trial which is set to begin on March 21 in 2014" [Written by Dae-ki Kim/ Jieun Lee]

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]