Samsung has reached a deal with Ericsson to end the ongoing patent dispute between the two companies. The agreement will see Samsung paying Ericsson an ongoing royalty, in addition to a payment to begin licensing its patents and end the current legal dispute. Ericsson says that its Q4 2013 sales will increase by US$651 million, while Samsung will gain access to patents covering LTE, GSM, and UMTS standards related to both networking and devices.
The dispute began with Ericsson bringing the lawsuit in 2012. This came as a result of two years of failed attempts to license the patents to Samsung. The Korean company is no stranger to patent disputes as it also lost a patent suit to Apple in 2012, although it has, of late, been more willing to enter into licensing deals.
Elsewhere, Samsung and Google have entered into a long term global patent cross-license agreement. This will allow both companies to access each other’s patent portfolio; which covers a broad range of technologies and business areas. It also extends to any patents filed by either party in the next 10 years.
[Source: TheVerge, Samsung Tomorrow]
