Ericsson has reached a “multi-year” settlement on international patent licences with Samsung, the Swedish telecom tools maker mentioned on Friday, ending a dispute that hit its first-quarter income.
Ericsson mentioned it had not disclosed what number of years the deal, which incorporates patents for all mobile applied sciences, would final. It mentioned it now expects second-quarter patent licensing income to be CZK 2 billion ($237 million or roughly Rs. 690 crores) to CZK 2.5 billion.
The settlement, which ends ongoing lawsuits in a number of nations, was executed in report time as patent disputes between know-how corporations can typically take years to settle.
The present dispute began in December, whereas the final tussle between the 2 corporations was in 2012 and took two years to resolve.
The cross-licence settlement covers gross sales of community infrastructure and handsets from Jan. 1, 2021, it mentioned in an announcement. The corporations declined to reveal the phrases citing confidentiality.
Ericsson invests about CZK 40 billion yearly in analysis and has a portfolio of greater than 57,000 patents.
Its Nordic rival Nokia, which additionally has a considerable patent portfolio, settled a patent problem with Samsung earlier this 12 months.
In the primary quarter, Ericsson’s patent licensing income fell to CZK 0.8 billion from CZK 2.5 billion a 12 months earlier. Royalties from its patent portfolio account for roughly a 3rd of Ericsson’s working revenue.
Ericsson mentioned its patent income proceed to be affected by components corresponding to expired licence agreements pending renewal, geopolitical impacts on the handset market, a know-how shift from 4G to 5G, and attainable foreign money results going ahead.
It nonetheless has an ongoing dispute with Dutch telecom firm KPN NV, which final month filed a patent-infringement grievance in opposition to Ericsson in a district court docket in Texas.
© Thomson Reuters 2021
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