South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung and telecommunications network giant Ericsson have finally reached an agreement in order to end all legal disputes related to patents. Ericsson stated on January 27, 2014 that the deal includes an initial payment and royalty payments from Samsung, which are part of the multi-year license agreement and would have an effect on Ericsson?s operating cash flow in early 2014.
The chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson, Kasim Alfalahi said, “This agreement allows us to continue to focus on bringing new technology to the global market and provides an incentive to other innovators to share their own ideas”. The telecommunications company also stated that the settlement will have an impact on the fourth quarter sales by 4.2 billion Swedish crowns, in addition to the net income by 3.3 billion Swedish crowns.
The latest decision by the two companies has managed to end lawsuits at the US International Trade Commission and was made just before a judge was set to release findings related to one of the cases. The latest legal fight began when the two companies were unable to agree on the terms to extend a licensing deal in November 2012.
Ericsson stated that it asked the South Korean tech giant to pay a comparable rate as it is paid by other handset rivals, including Apple Inc, HTC Corp and BlackBerry LTD.
Photo Credits: NDTV
