by CIO Staff

Ericsson Sues Samsung over Patents

News
Aug 02, 20062 mins
Compliance

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has filed a new lawsuit against Samsung Electronics in a court in Texas, an Ericsson spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The suit charges Samsung with infringing on Ericsson mobile phone patents and is related to a lawsuit that Ericsson filed in February, said Kristina Hagg-Blecher of Ericsson.

In February, Ericsson filed lawsuits in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States after the two companies failed to agree terms for a renewal of patent licenses. Ericsson originally signed a licensing deal with Samsung in 2002 for patents related to several mobile phone technologies.

A Samsung spokeswoman said the company doesn’t comment on ongoing legal issues.

The two aren’t the only mobile companies embroiled in a battle over patent license renewals. Nokia and Qualcomm are also in the midst of a bitter renegotiation process. Qualcomm has filed a complaint against Nokia with the U.S. International Trade Commission, and Nokia has filed a complaint against Qualcomm with the European Commission. The companies’ agreement expires early next year.

Mobile standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications and wideband code division multiple access were created by the combination of intellectual property from many different mobile phone vendors. In order to build phones and equipment based on the standards, the companies must pay each other for patents that contributed to the standard.

-Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service (Dublin Bureau)

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