Under-fire technology giant Samsung faces more woe as yet another firm has filed a lawsuit claiming the South Korean company is in breach of its patents.Ericsson fired the latest salvo in the increasingly bitter 'patent wars' by launching legal action in Texas.
The Swedish company alleges that Samsung has refused to renew critical licences to use its inventions.
The move will be a blow to Samsung, which is also fighting similar claims from Apple. But at the same time, Samsung is embroiled in its own lawsuit against Apple.
Earlier this year Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $1billion for copying technology used in the iPad and iPhone in its own devices.
And if that were not enough, Samsung is also under fire over working conditions at one of its suppliers in China.In the latest battle, Ericsson alleges that Samsung had failed to renew a licence agreement that expired two years ago to use some of its technology on the same terms that others in the industry had accepted.
The whole technology industry is built on the fact that patents can be used by rivals under 'fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory' - or Frand - licensing terms.
Samsung said that the Swedish company had 'demanded prohibitively higher' rates to renew the patents.
In a further twist, Samsung is relying in its patent battles with Apple on that very same point about Frand rates that Ericsson is citing against Samsung.
Ericsson's lawyers were quick to make that point, saying: 'Contrary to Samsung’s behaviour, patent licensing under Frand terms does not change from one day to the next depending on whether a company finds itself aligned as a licensor or licensee.'
These patents are worth huge amounts of money to the big technology players.
Kasim Alfalahi, Ericsson's chief intellectual property officer, said: 'By the end of 2012 there will be approximately 6.6 billion mobile subscriptions in the world.
'The sharing of technology in the telecom industry is one of the main drivers behind this development.'
The Swedish company alleges that Samsung has refused to renew critical licences to use its inventions.
The move will be a blow to Samsung, which is also fighting similar claims from Apple. But at the same time, Samsung is embroiled in its own lawsuit against Apple.
Earlier this year Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $1billion for copying technology used in the iPad and iPhone in its own devices.
And if that were not enough, Samsung is also under fire over working conditions at one of its suppliers in China.In the latest battle, Ericsson alleges that Samsung had failed to renew a licence agreement that expired two years ago to use some of its technology on the same terms that others in the industry had accepted.
The whole technology industry is built on the fact that patents can be used by rivals under 'fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory' - or Frand - licensing terms.
Samsung said that the Swedish company had 'demanded prohibitively higher' rates to renew the patents.
In a further twist, Samsung is relying in its patent battles with Apple on that very same point about Frand rates that Ericsson is citing against Samsung.
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| Samsung Galaxy s and Sony Ericsson Arc |
These patents are worth huge amounts of money to the big technology players.
Kasim Alfalahi, Ericsson's chief intellectual property officer, said: 'By the end of 2012 there will be approximately 6.6 billion mobile subscriptions in the world.
'The sharing of technology in the telecom industry is one of the main drivers behind this development.'
