Ericsson and Samsung have reached a multi-year agreement on global patent licenses between the two companies, including patents relating to all cellular technologies.
The cross-license agreement covers sales of network infrastructure and handsets from 1 January 2021.
In addition, Ericsson and Samsung have agreed on technology cooperation projects to advance the mobile industry in open standardisation and create valuable solutions for consumers and enterprises.
The settlement ends complaints filed by both companies before the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) as well as the ongoing lawsuits in several countries and confirms the value of the strong patent portfolios of both companies. The details of the agreement are confidential and will not be disclosed.
Ericsson’s 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.
Christina Petersson, chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson, says: “We are delighted to sign a mutually beneficial agreement with Samsung. This important deal confirms the value of our patent portfolio.”
The value of Ericsson’s IP portfolio extends to more than 57 000 granted patents.