Samsung, Ericsson Settle Patent Dispute

— -- Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. have reached a cross-license agreement for their mobile telephony patents, ending recent lawsuits between the two companies, Ericsson said Monday.

The worldwide agreement covers 2G (second-generation) and 3G (third-generation) mobile telephony standards, Ericsson said in a news release. The agreement allows the two companies to develop, manufacture and sell 2G and 3G subscriber and infrastructure equipment, Ericsson said. The firms will pay royalties to each other.

In August 2006, Ericsson filed a fresh lawsuit against Samsung in a court in Texas, charging Samsung with infringing Ericsson mobile phone patents. That action followed lawsuits filed in February 2006 in Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the U.S. after the two companies failed to agree on terms for a renewal of patent licenses.

Ericsson originally signed a licensing deal with Samsung in 2002 for patents related to several mobile phone technologies. That agreement expired in 2005, and it allowed Samsung to use patents from Ericsson for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) technologies, according to Ericsson.