Samsung and LG are continuing to back down from their feud over display technologies in Korea. Fresh from Samsung withdrawing an injunction against its rival last week, LG has followed suit by dropping its request for a sales ban on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in the country.
LG’s Display unit filed a patent suit against Samsung in September 2012 — seeking injunctions on a number of devices — and, though action against the Note 10.1 has been dropped, the Yonhap report (via TechCrunch) doesn’t mention the status of other devices that LG had targeted, which included the Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the original Galaxy Note.
The change in LG’s stance comes after the duo agreed to end a tense period of bickering center around OLED screen technology. Earlier this month the two companies pledged to work out their differences through dialogue, rather than litigation, and these legal u-turns are a result of that. Given the rate at which things had been developing, that’s most definitely a good thing.
Recent months had seen both companies threaten legal action over an issue which began in 2011 when Samsung Display suspected that 11 of its researchers had leaked details of its OLED technology, critical to the display system in smartphones, tablets, TVs and other devices, to LG Display.
The most recent developments saw LG serve Samsung with this patent suit, while Samsung moved to annul seven LG patents when it contacted a court in November 2012.
The LG injunction requests were fired out in retaliation after Samsung itself took action in response to the alleged product leak. The company had been seeking compensation for the incident, reportedly requesting 1 billion won (around $920,000) for each of the 18 “confidential technologies” that it claims LG deceptively got its hands on.
The court cases are beginning to unwind, which gives the two companies more time to focus on more positive brand building. With Mobile World Congress happening this week, LG will show off a number of phones it has already announced, including its latest L Series II devices and the full HD Optimus G Pro.
Samsung is likely to reveal details of its successor to the Galaxy S III soon, although is not expected to be communicated at the Barcelona-based event this week — The Verge suggests March 14 will be the day of the big announcement. The company Galaxy range of smartphones passed 100 million channel sales in January, and the Galaxy S IV is rumored to include a number of new technologies as it looks to rival Apple’s next iPhone.
Headline image via scobleizer / Flickr
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