Foreign
MULTINATIONAL Telecommunications Companies, Ericsson and Samsung have signed a multi-year agreement on global patent licenses, including patents relating to all cellular technologies.
The agreement covers sales of network infrastructure and handsets from January 1.
Ericsson, in a statement issued by its Chief Intellectual Property Officer, Christina Petersson on Friday said that Ericsson was delighted to sign a mutually beneficial agreement with Samsung.
“This important deal confirms the value of our patent portfolio and further illustrates Ericsson’s commitment to Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) principles.
“Over several decades, Ericsson has made significant investments in Research and Development and in developing global mobile standards and is committed to licensing its standard-essential patents on FRAND terms for the benefit of consumers and enterprises everywhere.
“The FRAND system allows access to technology and intellectual property developed by inventors like Ericsson, and also rewards those inventors for their major up-front investment in R&D in each mobile generation,’’ she said.
Christina said further that Ericsson and Samsung had agreed on technology cooperation projects to advance the mobile industry in open standardization and create valuable solutions for consumers and enterprises.
She said that the agreement ends the complaints filed by both companies and ongoing lawsuits in several countries.
“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.
“This also confirms the value of the strong patent portfolios of both companies. The details of the agreement are confidential and will not be disclosed,’’ she said.
Ericsson’s Intellectual Property Rights (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.
The value of Ericsson’s IP portfolio extends to more than 57,000 granted patents and was strengthened by annual investment in research and development.
With a leading global position in 5G, the company was confident of growing its IPR revenues long term, thereby, further maximizing the value of the overall patent portfolio. (NAN)
– MAY 07, 2021 @ 12:11 GM
Tags: Ericsson Samsung sign global patent licence agreement
