(Telecompaper) The US Department of Justice has ended an investigation into Samsung Electronics's licensing of its standards-essential patents. The DoJ's Antritrust Division looked at whether Samsung was using the patents to obtain exclusion orders from the US International Trade Commission against Apple iPhone and iPad models, a possibly anti-competitive practice. The DoJ in January 2013 issued a policy statement on standards-essential patents, warning that companies could abuse their dominant market positions by threatening to seek sales injunctions against competitors that did not agree to high licensing fees for the technology. Samsung earlier won such an order against Apple products, but the US Trade Representative reviewed the order issued by the ITC and overturned it in August 2013, determining that it was not consistent with the public interest. As a result of the USTR's action, the DoJ's Antitrust Division said it found no reason to continue the investigation of Samsung. However, it will continue to monitor further developments in this area. The DoJ noted that it worked closely on the investigation with the European Commission, which is still looking at Samsung's licensing practices.