The dispute between Ericsson and Apple escalates. The Sweden throw the US company after the expiry of a licensing deal, Ericsson violation of 41 patents. This affects the cellular standards of GSM and LTE as well as chip design and location services.
A few years ago, raging in the mobile industry is still a regular patent war that was largely ineffective. Now there is a new escalation of a conflict between Apple and Ericsson, reports Bloomberg.
The network equipment maker Ericsson has filed a large-scale patent lawsuit against Apple. The Sweden throw the iPhone-group after the expiry of a licensing deal infringement of 41 Ericsson-patents. It is all about elements of the mobile phone standard of GSM and LTE. However, the rights also apply technologies for chip design, location services, the operation of the devices and the mobile operating system iOS, such as Ericsson announced on Friday.
The previous patent agreement between the two companies had expired last month and the sides would not be able to agree on the terms for a new contract, it said. Ericsson filed two complaints with the US Federal Trade Commission ITC and seven complaints before a court in Texas. The ITC may prohibit the import of equipment in the US for patent infringement.
For patents that belong to the foundation of technical standards such as GSM and LTE, special rules apply. Owner must provide fair conditions and without discrimination licenses for it.
So Apple had already filed a lawsuit against the royalties demanded by Ericsson in the current case in mid-January. Apple wanted to find in federal court in California that the affected Ericsson patents are not critical for fast data transmission standard of LTE. With Ericsson one cannot agree on the price and ask the courts for help, it was then called. The Sweden now wants to be confirmed by a court in Texas that their license conditions are appropriate.
Ericsson had already settled a patent dispute, a year ago, with the smartphone market leader Samsung with an agreement that gave the Swedish Group recurring income.
The patent conflicts in the mobile industry were last abated considerably, mainly because Apple and Samsung had withdrawn most of their mutual actions. Samsung had then also tried to generate sales ban on Apple devices using standard patents, and got in trouble with the regulators.
Currently Apple is for a Pay-jury in Texas to pay $500 million to a patent company in the Caribbean. SmartFlash had demanded compensation from Apple because the iTunes platform patent rights violated. Apple also plans to appeal.
Apple had also sued by Nokia for violation of more than 40 patents, and which focused on mobile standards. The companies agreed after two years in the summer of 2011. Nokia announced at that time, it will get payments from Apple, the exact terms were not mentioned.
A rare glimpse into the negotiations on the charges for standard patents existed in the lawsuit between Apple and Motorola. The American mobile phone pioneer called on Apple for 2.25 percent of the total price of the device, which the iPhone provider refused as to be excessive.
