Samsung and Apple agree to end all patent disputes outside of the United States

Photo: ibtimes.com

Samsung and Apple just announced that they have agreed to drop all patent suits against each other in countries outside the United States, Bloomberg reports. The two companies will drop suits against each other in Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, the U.K., France and Italy. This agreement does not include any licensing agreements, though. This has no effect on United States battles either.

In a joint statement, the two companies had the following to say:

“Apple and Samsung have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States. This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in U.S. courts.”

Apple and Samsung have slowly been making peace with each other recently. In June, the two companies agreed to drop their appeals a patent infringement case. Google and Apple also agreed to drop all patent suits involving Motorola Mobility in May. In 2012, Apple secured a $1 billion victory over Samsung in the United States, but despite this, disputes have continued between the two companies.