Apple and Samsung both dropped their appeals in the ITC investigation where several older model Samsung smartphones were banned from import into the United States. The ban will stay in place, and the two companies will continue to fight it out in court over their ongoing patent infringement accusations.
Apple and Samsung mutually drop ITC injunction appeals
Apple had appealed the ITC's decision to throw out some patents from the investigation, and Samsung was appealing the injunction blocking the import of some of its smartphones.
Samsung tried last October to convince the White House to overturn the ITC's ban without success. At the time, the electronics maker argued it would only be fair considering an import ban on Apple products had been overturned in the same way.
The Obama administration didn't buy into Samsung's argument because the patents Apple was accused of infringing were standards essential, while the patents Samsung infringed on were not. The decision to overturn the injunction against Apple was seen as a move to help curb abuse of SEP patents.
Samsung's filing to drop the appeal stated that the company had "conferred with Appellee International Trade Commission and Intervenor Apple Inc., and neither party object[ed] to the requested voluntary dismissal," according to FOSS Patents. Apple followed by filing a request to dismiss its appeal, which leaves the injunction in place.
The two companies have been locked in an ongoing legal battle in courts around the world over allegations that they are infringing on each other's mobile device patents. While Apple has been winning far more cases than Samsung, the iPhone and iPad maker hasn't been able to gain a decisive win that breaks the company's ongoing infringement pattern.