The European Union is poised to hit Samsung with accusations of antitrust violations in the Korean tech firm's ongoing patent war with rival Apple.
The EU's competition commissioner told reporters in Brussels on Thursday that the agency will soon send Samsung documents outlining how it improperly used standard-essential patents in its ongoing legal battle with Apple. "We will issue a statement of objections very soon," Joaquin Almunia, the EU's vice president for competition policy said, according to Reuters.
The European Commission has been investigating Samsung over possible antitrust violations since January. The Commission is also investigating patent lawsuits filed by Microsoft and Motorola Mobility, which is owned by Google, over similar concerns, Reuters said. Samsung, Apple, Microsoft and Motorola have each requested sals injunctions in lawsuits against their rival's respective products in what has become a messy and complicated global patent battle that sees each company accusing its rival of infringing upon its own products – mostly smartphones, tablets – and the software running on the devices.
The statement of objections Almunia's Commission intends to file will notify Samsung of specific allegations of wrongdoing. The company will then be allowed to respond and request a hearing on the matter. From there, Samsung will be able to defend itself against the EU's accusations, Reuters said. If the Commission finds that Samsung did indeed break antitrust laws, then it could issue levies against Samsung.
Earlier this week, Samsung said it was withdrawing a number of injunction requests against Apple in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the U.K., the report said.
