Apple and Samsung have decided to drop all patent litigation in courts outside of the U.S. The decision ends cases that are open in Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, the U.K., France, and Italy.

Disputes over intellectual property related to the iPhone and Samsung phones will continue stateside, and neither party has agreed to a licensing arrangement of any kind.

“Apple and Samsung have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States,” the two companies said in a joint statement. “This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in U.S. courts.”

This is a huge development and hopefully will lead to better innovation. Ironically, it is now Samsung who is being sued by Microsoft for non payment of patent royalties.