Ericsson and Samsung settle patent dispute

Ericsson and Samsung have settled a global patent dispute that has dragged on for years. Image: Stuart Miles Free Digital Photos

Ericsson said in a statement that the agreement included an initial payment which would boost the company's fourth-quarter profit and revenue by 3.3bn kronor (€375m) and 4.2bn kronor respectively.

"Ericsson and Samsung have reached an agreement on global patent licenses between the two companies," Ericsson said in a statement, adding that the cross license agreement covers patents relating to GSM, UMTS, and LTE standards for networks and handsets.

According to the Swedish company, the multi-year licence deal also guarantees royalty payments from Samsung.

In November 2012, Ericsson filed two patent infringement lawsuits that have now come to an end: one was filed 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 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.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge