EU seeks public comment on Samsung anti-trust remedies

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission called a public review Thursday on the remedies offered by South Korean electronics giant Samsung to concern it has abused its dominant market position in its fight with Apple.

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, has charged Samsung with lodging unfair legal injunctions against Apple over the US company's use of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs), key patents across high-tech industry.

Samsung has claimed that some of the SEPs used by Apple in its mobile phones are its intellectual property and so took its rival to court.

The Commission launched an investigation for anti-competitive practices last year, judging in December that Samsung was at fault.

Samsung has since "offered to abstain from seeking injunctions for mobile SEPs for a period of five years against any company that agrees to a particular licensing framework," the Commission said in a statement.

"Interested parties can now submit their comments within one month," it said.

If the response Samsung's remedies are positive, the Commission to make them legally binding on the company, it added.

"Enforcing patents through injunctions can be perfectly legitimate," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in the statement.

However abuse of SEP rights "must be prevented so that standard-setting works properly and consumers do not have to suffer negative consequences.

"If we reach a good solution in this case, it will bring clarity to the industry,"Almunia said.

Apple and Samsung have filed lawsuits against each other in around a dozen countries for alleged patent violations over competing products, in particular the iPhone and Galaxy S smartphones, as well as tablet computers.