Samsung Drops Another Apple Patent Complaint Ahead of ITC Hearing

Samsung trimmed down its patent infringement claims against Apple by dropping another patent from its International Trade Commission case. The patent complaint was withdrawn ahead of an ITC hearing scheduled for Monday, according to Foss Patents.

Samsung streamlines Apple patent complaints ahead of ITC hearingSamsung streamlines Apple patent complaints ahead of ITC hearing

Samsung chose to drop patent number 6,897,843 which describes a “device and method for storing and reproducing digital audio data in a mobile terminal,” and partially withdrew patent 7,706,348 which describes an “apparatus and method for encoding/decoding transport format combination indicator in CDMA mobile communication system.”

The move leaves four patents in Samsung’s ITC complaint against Apple.

Apple and Samsung have been involved in a months-long patent infringement battle in courts around the world over allegations that each side is using mobile patents without proper licensing. At one point Apple’s attorneys claimed in court that Samsung has been “slavishly” copying the iPhone and iPad designs.

Today’s ITC hearing follows failed court-requested negotiations between the two companies in hopes of reaching a settlement without a trial.

Samsung is hoping to convince the ITC to issue an import ban on Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod product lines for allegedly infringing on its patents coving wireless computing devices, tablet computers and portable music players.