Ericsson and Apple have agreed on a global patent license agreement between the two companies. The agreement includes a cross license that covers patents relating to both companies’ standard-essential patents (including the GSM, UMTS and LTE cellular standards), and grants certain other patent rights. In addition, the agreement includes releases that resolve all pending patent-infringement litigation between the companies; this settlement ends all ongoing patent-infringement claims between the parties.
As part of the seven-year agreement, Apple will make an initial payment to Ericsson and, thereafter, will pay on-going royalties. The specific terms of the contract are confidential.
Including positive effects from the settlement, and including the ongoing IPR business with all other licensees, Ericsson estimates full year 2015 IPR revenues will amount to SEK 13-14 b.
This agreement ends investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission, lawsuits pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, as well as lawsuits in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.
In addition, the companies will collaborate in multiple technology areas, including the development of the next generation 5G cellular standards, the optimization of existing wireless networks for the benefit of operators and users worldwide, and video traffic optimization.
“We are pleased with this new agreement with Apple, which clears the way for both companies to continue to focus on bringing new technology to the global market, and opens up for more joint business opportunities in the future,” said Kasim Alfalahi, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson, in a statement.
Source: Ericsson
MacDailyNews Take: It’s good to see that the new royalty rate has been agreed upon and this issue has been put to bed for a fresh start to 2016!
SEE ALSO:
Ericsson extends patent suits against Apple to Europe – May 8, 2015
With U.S. ITC probe, Ericsson’s long-shot bid to ban iPhone and iPad sales moves ahead – March 31, 2015
Ericsson sues Apple for patent infringement; seeks to ban iPhone sales in U.S. – February 27, 2015
Ericsson files complaint against Apple over tech license payments – January 14, 2015
Apple sues Ericsson over LTE wireless telecom patents – January 14, 2015
Tim probably misstates when he said that Apple prefers the simple to the complex. As a value that’s true, but much of what Apple makes in incredibly complex. In the CBS interview, Graham Townsend noted that to take a single photo, twenty-four billion operations have to take place. Hardly simple to my eye.
And the author’s point about the single party control of two of the three branches of government also misrepresents. The Democrats more so than the Republicans are a broad-based coalition of a party composed of many different competing interests. There’s no guaranteeing that if they’d wanted to pass a change to the tax code, they could have. And in any case, my recollection is that their focus was elsewhere.
and this relates to …?
Technology is complex so that it’s designed to be simple for the user which is the end game. There’s a problem with that? I believe that’s what well-designed technology is all about. You can’t use stone knives and bearskins to make smart phones, computers or facilitate Tricorder playback, etc..
As to that, our species is not all that far removed from stone knives and bearskins. We still process the same emotions and biases as Urggh and Gnadrok arguing the virtues of mammoth hide versus sabretooth, or which flint makes the sharpest spear tips.
There have been no biological changes in humans in the last twelve thousand years apparently. We tend to think we’re better because of our common rather than individual gains.
Not sure how that observation relates to the design philosophy of technology other than simplicity in usability is power.
We still process the same emotions and biases as Urggh and Gnadrok when arguing about the tradeoffs made in the design and manufacture of our tools and attire.
With a few thousand years of added sophistication, social interaction and intelligence to help process for the modern age. Humans are hardwired for survival. We’ve evolved but still see Neanderthals and Trolls roaming the Internet. 🙂