It’s another beautiful day, and we’re hearing another patent lawsuit. This time, the spotlight is aiming at the European Union, the economic and political union in the continent. European Commission competition chief, Joaquin Almunia, said today that Samsung is facing an antitrust complaint over its use of standard- essential patents for its legal disputes with Apple. Almunia also confirmed that the European Commission will adopt the statement of objections very soon and that the formal listing of the antitrust concerns could be sent before this year ends.
“We will issue a statement of objections very soon,” Almunia said. It’s worth noting that Samsung decided to drop its patent lawsuits against Apple earlier this week in U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Netherlands. Almunia said that while regulators are happy to hear that Samsung is dropping its patent lawsuits in Europe, the commission will still continue to investigate the South Korean consumer electronics giant, whether the threats it is using in its injunctions are harming the competition. Meanwhile, Samsung said in a statement that the company is fully cooperating with the European Commission proceedings.