Samsung Electronics Co has dropped a lawsuit against Apple Inc that claimed Apple copied many of Samsung's innovations, according to a report from Bloomberg on Saturday.

Samsung dropped the suit on Thursday, Bloomberg said. The news service quoted Nam Ki Yung, a spokesman for the Suwon, South Korea-based company as saying the company wanted to streamline the legal proceedings.

Spokespersons from Samsung and Apple did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Apple and Samsung are part of a wider web of litigation among phone makers and software firms over who owns the patents used in smartphones and tablets, as rivals aggressively rush into a market in which Apple jumpstarted with iPhone and iPad.

Samsung had launched the suit in April as a counter-claim against Apple, which has sued Samsung previously, saying Samsung's Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets slavishly copies the iPhone and iPad.

(Reporting by Kyle Peterson)

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