DHAKA: Apple and Samsung have agreed to withdraw all legal cases against each other outside the United States.

The two rivals have sued each other over a range of patent disputes in nine countries outside the US, including the UK, South Korea, Japan and Germany.

Samsung said the agreement ‘does not involve any licensing arrangements’, and the firms will continue ‘to pursue the existing cases in US courts’, reports the BBC.

The two firms are the biggest players in the smartphone and tablet PC market.

But they have been involved in a bitter legal battle, spread across various countries, which has escalated in recent years.

The legal wrangling between the two companies began in 2011 after Apple sued Samsung in the US.

It claimed that the South Korean firm’s Galaxy range of phones and tablets ‘slavishly’ copied its iPhone and iPad.

BDST: 1157 HRS, AUG 06, 2014