Samsung has offered to stop filing patent-related lawsuits against its rivals in Europe for a period of five years in order to settle an antitrust investigation.
The European Commission believes Samsung has violated its rules regarding standard essential patents. Samsung has filed numerous lawsuits against competitors such as Apple in Europe, the U.S., and other countries. The EU says Samsung is using its standard essential patents against rivals too aggressively. “Samsung has offered to abstain from seeking injunctions for mobile SEPs (standard essential patents) for a period of five years against any company that agrees to a particular licensing framework,” said the European Commission. Samsung’s competitors have one month to respond to its proposal.
The move could help the company avoid an $18.3 billion antitrust fine. Samsung’s offer does not extend to its patent-related lawsuits elsewhere.
