By Dan Levine
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Apple Inc has agreed to
withdraw patent claims against a new Samsung phone with a
high-end display after Samsung said it was not offering to sell
the product in the crucial U.S. market.
Apple disclosed the agreement in a filing on Friday in U.S.
District Court in San Jose, California. Representatives for both
Apple and Samsung declined to comment.
Last month Apple asked to add the Galaxy S III Mini and
other Samsung products, including several tablet models, to its
wide-ranging patent litigation against Samsung.
In response, Samsung said the Galaxy S III Mini was not
available for sale in the United States and should not be
included in the case.
Apple won a $1.05 billion verdict against Samsung earlier
this year but has failed to secure a permanent sales ban against
several, mostly older Samsung models. The patents Apple is
asserting against the Galaxy S III Mini are separate from those
that went to trial.
Samsung started selling the Mini in Europe in October to
compete with Apple's iPhone 5. In its filing on Friday in U.S.
District Court, for the Northern District of California, Apple
said its lawyers were able to purchase "multiple units" of the
Mini from Amazon.com Inc's U.S. retail site and have them
delivered in the United States.
But Samsung represented that it is not "making, using,
selling, offering to sell or importing the Galaxy S III Mini in
the United States." Based on that, Apple said it agreed to
withdraw its patent claims on the Mini, "so long as the current
withdrawal will not prejudice Apple's ability later to accuse
the Galaxy S III Mini if the factual circumstances change."
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of
California is Apple Inc. vs. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al.,
12-630.
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