Samsung, Ericsson Agree to Cross Patents
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SEOUL, South Korea  -- Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday that it has concluded a cross-licensing agreement on patents with Sweden's LM Ericsson in wireless communications technology.
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Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics said  on Tuesday they had agreed to share patents on basic technology  to speed up product development and avoid adding to a growing  number of cross-border patent disputes.
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(InfoWorld) - Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Samsung ElectronicsÂ have reached a cross-license agreement for their mobile telephony patents, ending recentÂ lawsuits between the two companies, Ericsson said Monday. The worldwide agreement covers 2G (second-generation) and 3G (third-generation) mobile telephony standards, Ericsson said in a news release. The agreement allows the two companies to develop, manufacture and sell 2G and 3G subscriber and infrastructure equipment, Ericsson said. The firms will pay royalties to each other. In August 2006,Â Ericsson filed a fresh lawsuit against SamsungÂ in a court in Texas, charging Samsung with infringing Ericsson mobile phone patents. That action followed lawsuits filed in February 2006 in Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the U.S. after the two companies failed to agree on 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. That agreement expired in 2005, and it allowed Samsung to use patents from Ericsson for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) technologies, according to Ericsson. Â
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Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) today signed a GSM expansion framework agreement with China Mobile, valued at about USD 1 billion, at a ceremony in Sweden attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
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Flash memory vendors reach a settlement in their patent dispute and sign a cross-licensing deal.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said Thursday it will investigate complaints by Ericsson and its Swedish parent company that Samsung ElectronicsÂ and two of its U.S. companies violated patents used its mobile handsets. Ericsson and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson filed a complaint against Samsung's Korean parent company, Samsung Telecommunications America and Samsung Electronics America, alleging that Samsung's importation of its patented mobile phones and components violated U.S. law, according to an ITC statement. The ITC set no timetable for the investigation, but said it would establish a target date for the completion of the investigation to within 45 days of its institution. EricssonÂ filed suit against SamsungÂ in a Texas court August 2, alleging that Samsung is infringing on its patents for mobile handsets and some of their components. The case is part of legal action taken by the Swedish company against its Korean rival and former partner since February, after the two failed to renew a 2002 licensing arrangement for patented technology. The deal expired at the end of 2005.
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LONDON - After a year of negotiations two of the world&#39;s giants of consumer electronics, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sony Corp.
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Samsung Electronics Co. and Sony Corp. have signed a licensing agreement to share 24,000 basic standard patents necessary for product development, Samsung officials said yesterday.
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Sony and Samsung started negotiations on the cross-licensing deal in December 2003. The agreement is broad, covering 94 percent of Sony&#39;s 13,000 US registered patents, and a similar percentage of Samsung&#39;s 11,000 US registered patents.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft inked another cross-licensing patent agreement Wednesday, this time with South Korea's LG Electronics, covering the company's Linux-based embedded devices. As part of the deal, LG, one of the world's largest electronics companies, can use undefined "patented Microsoft technology" in its products, including Linux-based devices. The agreement also covers intellectual property contained in other hardware and software products, such as game consoles. LG is a manufacturer of CDMA, GSM, and 3G handsets; IP phones; plasma TVs; optical storage products; PDAs; notebook computers; DVD players; and home theater systems, among other electronic products. As in similar deals with Xandros (announced earlier this week), Novell, Samsung and Fuji Xerox, Microsoft did not detail just what patents LG was licensing, and LG did not say if its Linux-based devices violated any Microsoft patents. As part of the deal, Microsoft will have access to LG patents that cover computer architecture utilized in game consoles and other products and will license other LG patents that are owned by system integrator MicroConnect Group, which is based in Manchester, England. "This agreement is focused only on exchange of patent rights," said David Kaefer, general manager of IP licensing at Microsoft. "The open-source elements of the deal do utilize a covenant model similar to the Xandros and Novell deals, but this deal is most similar to recent agreements with Samsung and Fuji Xerox." Those deals were signed this year in April and March, respectively. Both covered general access to intellectual property contained in patent portfolios and included protection for customers using Linux-based software. In terms of the "customer covenant" clause in those deals, Kaefer said, "The covenants are structured very similarly." Microsoft and LG did not release financial terms of the deal but said in a press release that Microsoft would make a "net balancing" payment to LG and MicroConnect for patents related to operating systems and computer systems. Microsoft made a similar "net balancing" payment as part of its deal with Novell that, according to that contract, reflected "the larger applicable volume of Microsoft's product shipments" versus that of Novell's products. In addition, LG will be making ongoing payments to Microsoft to cover Microsoft patents as they relate to Linux-based embedded devices that LG produces. LG Enterprises comprises four business units -- Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display, and Digital Media. The company produced $48.5 billion in global sales in 2006. The company is a member of the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum, which also includes Sony, Panasonic, Motorola, and others. None of those companies have cross-licensing deals with Microsoft. A search on the LG Web site turned up only one reference to Linux, which was the 2005 release of a set-top box sold under the DirecTV brand name that included "a general-purpose Linux-operating-system." In 2001, LG produced a Linux -based wireless webpad for home users that included Internet support and a built-in multimedia player. LG also is a partner of Microsoft in that it licenses Windows CE for use in its IP phones and produces Windows-based notebook computers. The deal with LG comes after Microsoft said last month it would seek royalties for patents that it says are being infringed upon by open-source technologies like Linux. The company, however, said it would prefer to sign patent and cross-licensing deals with open-source distributors rather than seek payments via litigation. The open-source community, specifically the Free Software Foundation, reacted by tweaking the final draft release of the GNU General Public License (GPL) 3.0, which was released May 31, to prohibit such patent deals. The GPLv3 is expected to be officially published on June 29. Open source advocates contend that Microsoft is doing no more than bullying the Linux community with the threat of patent violations because it has not divulged what patents are infringed upon by Linux and other open-source software. Microsoft reiterated this week at its annual TechEd conference that its position is to protect intellectual property rights. "The approach that Microsoft is taking is to work with industry partners to ensure that when customers want to use open-source software, they can do so with the knowledge and security that the software brings with it all the licensing rights that are required," Bob Muglia, senior vice president for server and tools at Microsoft, said during his keynote address Monday. In a press release announcing the partnership, LG and MicroConnect executives struck the same tone. "We believe in the importance of respecting the [intellectual property] rights of others and that patent collaboration and protection is a best business practice the whole industry should be engaged in," said Jeong Hwan Lee, executive vice president of the Intellectual Property Center at LG. Alan Loudermilk, founding partner of MicroConnect, said, "MicroConnect is pleased to be able to make a contribution to the strengthened [intellectual property] relationship between LGE and Microsoft."
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Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday they had agreed to share patents on basic technology to speed up product development and avoid adding to a growing number of cross-border patent disputes.
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Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. have reached a cross-license agreement for their mobile telephony patents, ending recent lawsuits between the two companies, Ericsson said Monday.
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Microsoft Corp.  and South  Korea&#39;s LG Electronics (066570.KS) said on Thursday they agreed  a patent cross-licensing deal, sending LG shares to their  highest in more than a year.
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Research In Motion Ltd.    has settled a lawsuit with Samsung Electronics Co.  Ltd.  over allegations the South Korean electronics  giant infringed on RIM's well-known BlackBerry trademark name  with its competing BlackJack smartphone.
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Sony Ericsson has filed a U.S. patent  application for a mobile device with video game features, but  said on Monday it is not poised to launch a phone based on its  PlayStation Portable (PSP) video game brand.
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The U.S. International Trade Commission said it agreed to Samsungâs request to investigate Sharp for allegedly infringing liquid crystal display patents.
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Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.   005930.KS on Friday said it plans to introduce a line of   digital music players and a download service, under an   agreement with privately held media provider MusicNet.