Ericsson and Samsung have reached a multi-year agreement on global patent licenses between the two companies, including patents relating to all cellular technologies
The cross-license agreement covers sales of network infrastructure and handsets from 1 January, 2021.
Furthermore, Ericsson and Samsung have agreed on technology cooperation projects to advance the mobile industry in open standardisation and create valuable solutions for consumers and enterprises.
This settlement ends complaints filed by both companies before the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) as well as the ongoing lawsuits in several countries and confirms the value of the strong patent portfolios of both companies.
Ericsson’s IPR licensing revenues continue to be affected by several factors, mainly expired patent license agreements pending renewal, geopolitical impact on the handset market, technology shift from 4G to 5G, and possible currency effects going forward.
Christina Petersson, chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson, said, “This important deal confirms the value of our patent portfolio and further illustrates Ericsson’s commitment to FRAND principles.”
Over several decades, Ericsson has made significant investments in R&D and in developing global mobile standards and is committed to licensing its standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for the benefit of consumers and enterprises everywhere.
The value of Ericsson’s IP portfolio extends to more than 57,000 granted patents and is strengthened by annual investment in R&D. With a leading global position in 5G, the company is confident of growing its IPR revenues long term, thereby further maximising the value of the overall patent portfolio.
