Ericsson and Apple reached a multi-year global patent license agreement, ending a bitter years-long battle. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Their settlement ends all ongoing patent-related legal disputes between the two companies, and there have been plenty of them.
Both companies had filed lawsuits in several countries, including in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas, where a trial was underway this week in Marshall, Texas. It also addresses complaints filed before the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).
Big patent disputes usually settle right before or somewhere between trials, but it’s not unheard of for settlements to happen during a trial, according to Florian Mueller, whose Foss Patents blog chronicled the dispute.
However, Ericsson v. Apple may be the first patent dispute to have settled during two simultaneous events, in that the trial was happening in Texas at the same time as an evidentiary hearing was underway at USITC, Mueller noted.
The settlement appears to go beyond a cross-license agreement, with the companies further agreeing to strengthen their technology and business collaboration, including in technology, interoperability and standards development.
"We are pleased to settle the litigations with Apple with this agreement, which is of strategic importance to our 5G licensing program. This will allow both companies to continue to focus on bringing the best technology to the global market," said Ericsson Chief Intellectual Property Officer Christina Petersson in a statement.
Going forward, Ericsson said it expects IPR licensing revenues will continue to be affected by several factors, including expired patent license agreements pending renewal, the technology shift from 4G to 5G, possible currency fluctuations and the geopolitical environment.
Ericsson estimates its the fourth quarter 2022 IPR licensing revenues will be in the range of $534 million to $582 million.