Apple and Ericsson on Monday settled their patent dispute and agreed to work together in several areas including 5G technology.
The firms have struck a global cross-licensing deal that covers both companies’ standard-essentia l patents and resolves all pending infringement litigation. The seven-year agreement will see Apple make an initial payment to Ericsson, and then pay ongoing royalties.
In addition, Apple and Ericsson have agreed to work together on the development of 5G technology, video network traffic management, and wireless network optimisation.
"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, Ericsson’s chief intellectual property officer, in a statement.
Ericsson filed a patent complaint against Apple in January after the companies failed to reach an agreement over the former’s patent-licensing fees. The dispute stemmed from the fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms under which Ericsson offered to license its patents.
A month later, Ericsson sued Apple for patent infringement because the latter’s iPhones and iPads were using Ericsson’s cellular technology under an expired licence. Monday’s agreement signals the settlement of this lawsuit.
