Apple to drop patent claims against new Samsung phone

By Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:14pm EST

SAN FRANCISCO (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.

(Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Leslie Adler and Dan Grebler)

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Apple CEO's pay package drops 99 percent from 2011

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks to the audience during an Apple event in San Jose, California October 23, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

NEW YORK | Thu Dec 27, 2012 1:12pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tim Cook has finally made it to the top at Apple Inc, but in his first full year as CEO his pay package shrank about 99 percent.

Cook, the successor to the late Steve Jobs, was awarded total compensation of $4.17 million in 2012, down from $378 million in 2011, Apple said in a federal filing on Thursday.

The 2012 compensation package for Cook, who took over as chief executive in August 2011, also seemed a pittance compared with his 2010 pay, which was 14 times higher, when the executive served as chief operating officer.

Jobs, the iconic CEO and co-founder, died in October 2011 of pancreatic cancer.

The maker of the iPhone and iPad noted that Cook will not receive any stock awards for 2012 after he was given about $376.2 million in stock awards the year before. The stock awards vest over many years.

The 2012 package includes a salary of $1.4 million and a nonequity bonus of $2.8 million, according to the filing. Cook's base salary actually increased compared with the $900,000 he earned in 2011.

While Apple's shares are 35 percent higher than when Cook assumed the CEO role, they have fallen more than 27 percent since October when they hit a $700.10 high.

Apple shares were down 0.6 percent at $509.85 on the Nasdaq late on Thursday morning.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew and Liana Baker; editing by Kenneth Barry and Matthew Lewis)

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U.S. agency makes initial ruling against Apple "pinch-to-zoom" patent

n">(Reuters) - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Apple Inc's 'pinch-to-zoom' patent in a preliminary ruling that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd argues supports its request for a new trial in the patent war against its rival.

Apple scored a sweeping legal victory over its South Korean competitor in August when a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

The 'pinch-to-zoom' patent, U.S. patent no. 7,844,915, was one of the patents contested at that trial. The jury ruled that Samsung had infringed six of seven Apple patents.

When the U.S. patent office rules against a patent, the full process involves multiple steps and can take years. It can also often be appealed in court, further tying up the process.

The ruling by the U.S. patent office after Samsung requested an examination of the patent was included in documents filed by Samsung in a federal court in San Jose, California.

Apple's claims were rejected on the grounds that prior patents covered the inventions.

Representatives for Apple and Samsung were not immediately available for comment.

Samsung and Apple, the world's top two smartphone makers, are locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries as they vie to dominate the lucrative mobile market and win over customers with their latest gadgets.

In October, a Dutch court ruled that Samsung did not infringe on Apple's patent by using certain multi-touch techniques on some of the Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablet computers.

(Reporting by Balaji Sridharan in Bangalore; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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Samsung drops attempt to ban Apple sales in Europe

An Apple iPhone 4S and a Samsung Galaxy S are seen in this file illustration photograph taken in Berlin August 27, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski/Files

STOCKHOLM | Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:35pm EST

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Korea's Samsung Electronics on Tuesday said it would drop law suits aimed at banning the sale of Apple Inc. products in Europe just a day after scoring a victory in a battle in the United States with the maker of iPhones.

Samsung and Apple, the world's top two smartphone makers, have been locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries over the last 18 months since Apple sued Samsung, saying the Korean firm copied its best-selling iPhone and iPad.

On Tuesday, Samsung said it was dropping an attempt to stop the sale of some Apple products in Germany, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands, though it did not say it would halt its court battle for compensation.

"Samsung remains committed to licensing our technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, and we strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court," the company said in a statement.

A spokesman for Apple declined to comment on Samsung's decision.

The decision comes a day after a judge rejected Apple Inc's request for a ban on the sale of Samsung Electronics' smartphones in the United States.

In August, Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages after a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad. The Samsung products run on the Android operating system, developed by Google.

In January, the European Commission opened an investigation into whether Samsung Electronics has distorted competition in the European mobile device market, breaking EU antitrust rules.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson, additional reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Louise Heavens)

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