Ericsson, Samsung sign deal settling patent dispute
Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson said on Monday it had signed a deal with South Korean electronics giant Samsung settling a global patent dispute.
Ericsson said in a statement that the agreement included an initial payment which would boost the company's fourth-quarter profit and revenue by 3.3 billion kronor (375 million euros, $511 million) and 4.2 billion kronor respectively.
"Ericsson and Samsung have reached an agreement on global patent licenses between the two companies," the Swedish company said.
"The cross license agreement covers patents relating to GSM, UMTS, and LTE standards for both networks and handsets."
The multi-year licence deal also guarantees royalty payments from Samsung to Ericsson, according to the Swedish company.
In November 2012, Ericsson filed two patent infringement lawsuits that came to an end with the deal: one at a US court in Texas and one at the US International Trade Commission.
"We are pleased that we could reach a mutually fair and reasonable agreement with Samsung. We always viewed litigation as a last resort," chief Intellectual Property officer Kasim Alfalahi said.
Samsung also announced on Monday it had signed another long-term cross-licence deal with Google in order to prevent potential patent disputes in the future.
According to the South Korean group, the agreement would cover the firms' existing patents and those filed over the next 10 years.
漏 2014 AFP
