Ericsson sues Samsung for patent infringement
updated 10:15 am EST, Tue November 27, 2012
Ericsson resorts to lawsuit after two years of talks fail
The world's largest telecom network equipment maker is suing the world's largest mobile phone maker over patent infringement. Ericsson filed suit against Samsung in the United States today, saying that Samsung has refused to sign a license to use technologies according to Ericsson's stated terms, terms Ericsson describes as fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory. Representatives for Ericsson say that the company decided to file suit after two years of negotiations failed to produce a licensing agreement.
Ericsson's network equipment, according to The Chicago Times, handles more than 40 percent of the world's mobile traffic. Samsung, meanwhile, leads all competitors in both mobile phones in general and smartphones in particular, selling 55 million of the latter in the last quarter.
Ericsson has not commented on the size of its lawsuit.
The development is but the latest in an ongoing trend of technology giants filing suit against each other over standards-essential and non-essential patents. Samsung recently lost a $1.05 billion judgement in a patent infringement case with Apple, though that decision is still being litigated.
