Samsung will pay Ericsson $650 million plus royalties to end patent dispute
It seems like we can't go too long without news regarding Samsung and patents. Obviously, there has been the ongoing dispute between Samsung and Apple that has been dragging on for years now; and, Samsung and Google just announced a huge cross-licensing deal which could have wide-ranging implications for the mobile ecosystem. Now, Samsung is ready to put its dispute with Ericsson in the past.
According to Ericsson, Samsung has agreed to pay $650 million plus royalties in order to end a patent dispute between the two companies. Samsung had signed a licensing deal with Ericsson back in 2001, and renewed the deal in 2007, but the two sides couldn't agree on a deal when it came up for renewal in 2011. Samsung claims Ericsson was asking a much higher price for the same patent licensing, and refused to sign. That led to a lawsuit by Ericsson covering patents regarding voice transmission, touchscreen functionality, and network efficiency technologies.
The deal will have Samsung pay a one-time payment of $650 million followed by regular royalty payments of an undisclosed amount. The length of the deal has also not been announced, though analysts say that patent agreements are usually between four and seven years long.
source: Reuters
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