With US district judge Lucy Koh having turned down Apple's request of a permanent injunction against Samsung, thereby denying Samsung's request for a new trial over Apple's $1 billion victory in the court case, the South Korea-based technology conglomerate has withdrawn its request for a ban against the sale Apple's devices in Europe.

In its statement about discontinuing its attempts to secure a sales ban against Apple's iPhone and iPad in the European Union (EU), Samsung said that it has dropped its request for injunctions on Apple devices in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.

Though Samsung still plans to go ahead with the lawsuit against Apple, it said that the decision to withdraw request for Apple ban in the EU had been taken "in the interest of protecting consumer choice."

Samsung was earlier seeking a sales ban against Apple's devices in the EU on the basis of its allegations that Apple had infringed on the use of its patents pertaining to wireless technology. However, Apple had put forth the argument that Samsung had not been fair in its licensing of the patents.

Meanwhile, reiterating its commitment to licensing its technologies on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms," Samsung said, about its decision to drop Apple-ban request in Europe: "We strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court."