Samsung offers to settle EU antitrust probe
Samsung has offered to settle an EU probe intended to determine whether the smartphone maker was in breach of EU antitrust laws when it sought injunctions against Apple for using standard-essential patents (SEPs) related to mobile technology.
Speaking at the 40th Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law and Policy in New York on September 27, the European Commission’s vice president and commissioner for competition Joaquín Almunia said that in December 2012, the commission had sent Samsung a Statement of Objections outlining the commission’s concern that its conduct was anti-competitive.
Samsung had committed to a standards body to license its standard-essential patents to market participants in return for remuneration, but later sought injunctions based on those patents, he said, adding that “in our view, there was a willing licensee.”
“After lengthy discussions, Samsung has sent us a set of commitments seeking to address our concerns,” he announced.
“We will formally market test these proposed commitments with other market participants in the coming weeks.”
He said that if Samsung’s commitments – the details of which are unknown – address the commission’s concerns, “we will take a commitment decision which would – I believe – bring clarity on SEPs and injunctions across the industry.”
SEPs are patents that are needed to practise an industry standard; typically, the holders of such patents agree to license them on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
The SEPs in question are related to the European Telecommunications Standardisation Institute’s 3G UMTS standard, which the commission described as a “key standard” for mobile and wireless communications.
“When this standard was adopted in Europe, Samsung gave a commitment that it would license the patents which it had declared essential to the standard on FRAND terms,” the commission’s statement continues.
Samsung started seeking injunctive relief in 2011 against Apple in courts in EU member states, claiming infringement of its 3G UMTS SEPs.
In January 2012, the commission began investigating whether Samsung had engaged in anti-competitive behaviour by seeking these injunctions.
Samsung did not respond to a request for comment.
