Ericsson has filed suits in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands against Apple’s products.
In a statement, it says that although it had offered to enter into arbitration with Apple to reach a mutually beneficial global licensing agreement for its standard-essential patents, that offer has now expired.
Commenting on the development, Kasim Alfalahi, chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson, said: “Apple continues to profit from Ericsson’s technology without having a valid licence in place. Our technology is used in many features and functionality of today’s communication devices. We are confident the courts in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands will be able to help us resolve this matter in a fair manner.”
Ericsson says that the proceedings in the three countries were recently initiated and refer to the 2G and 4G/LTE standards, as well as other technology that is not standardised, but is related to, for instance, the design of semiconductor components and non-cellular wireless communications.
It adds that it has fore more than two years been trying to reach an agreement with Apple on a global license for Ericsson’s patents on terms that are fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND), but the companies have failed to reach an amicable resolution.
Its national lawsuits in Europe are other efforts to protect and support its investment in R&D.
Ericsson has to date signed more than 100 patent-licensing agreements with most major players in the industry.
