Tuesday, 10 July 2007

Ericsson and Samsung Sign Telecom Cross License Deal

Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson announced Monday that it has renewed its worldwide patent cross license agreement with Samsung.

According to a release, under the terms of the worldwide royalty bearing agreement, Ericsson has granted Samsung a non-exclusive license under Ericsson’s patent portfolio for the 2G and 3G mobile telephony standards, to develop, manufacture and sell 2G and 3G subscriber and infrastructure equipment.

In return, Samsung will provide a royalty payment and a reciprocal license under its valuable patent portfolio to Ericsson.

As per the agreement, both parties have further agreed to dismiss all pending patent infringement lawsuits between them.

Ericsson filed lawsuits against the Korean based Samsung last year after Samsung continued using Ericsson’s patented technology after the expiration of their cross licensing agreement in 2005. The dispute related to 11 mobile patents.