Samsung pays up
Ericsson and Samsung have agreed a cross licensing deal that gives Samsung a non-exclusive license to develop, manufacture and sell 2G and 3G subscriber and infrastructure equipment under Ericsson's patent portfolio for GSM, TDMA, GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA standards. In return, Samsung is paying royalties, as well a provding a reciprocal license to Ericsson.
The deal means the parties have agreed to dismiss all pending patent infringement lawsuits between the parties. Ericsson had filed suits against Samsung in February and August 2006, alleging in the first instance that Samsung had failed to renew licenses acquire in 2002 for GSM, GPRS and EDGE technology, and in the second that the company was misusing IPRs in CDMA, WCDMA and GSM/EDGE. The company said at the time it was seeking punitive damages and an order banning Samsung from using the disputed IPRs.
Although terms of the new license have not been disclosed, the new deal specifically gives Samsung access to Ericsson's 3G technology.
"The Ericsson 3G PR portfolio is extremely strong and is required by any company developing 3G products," said Torbjörn Nilsson, Senior Vice President at Ericsson.