Ericsson Expands Its Patent Row With Apple Into Europe

   By Juhana Rossi 
 

Ericsson AB (ERIC) escalated its dispute with Apple Inc. (AAPL) over licensing fees for patented wireless technology on Friday by suing the maker of popular smartphones and tablets in three European countries.

The Swedish network technology supplier said that it had filed suits against Apple's products in Germany, the U.K. and the Netherlands after Apple had declined to respond to Ericsson's offer of settling the matter through arbitration.

"Apple continues to profit from Ericsson's technology without having a valid license in place," Ericsson's Chief Intellectual Property Officer Kasim Alfalahi said in a statement.

An Apple representative wasn't immediately available for a comment.

Ericsson said that its legal action relates to patents linked with 2G and 4G/LTE mobile technology standards and to other technology such as the design of semiconductor components and non-cellular wireless communications.

The legal row between Ericsson and Apple began in January with the two companies suing and countersuing each in the U.S. courts.

At the time, Apple stated it has always "been willing to pay a fair price to secure the rights to standards essential patents covering technology in our products," adding they "have not been able to agree with Ericsson on a fair rate for their patents so, as a last resort, we are asking the courts for help."

Patent and intellectual property disputes are fairly common in the mobile device and wireless technology industries.

Apple and the Finnish telecom equipment supplier Nokia (NOK) settled a two-year-long litigation in June 2011 after Apple agreed to pay undisclosed compensation to Nokia.

In January 2014 Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHZ) struck a multi-year licensing agreement. The agreement involved an initial payment of 4.2 billion kronor ($508.2 million) from Samsung to Ericsson. Ericsson recognized SEK3.3 billion of the payment as net profit.

Write to Juhana Rossi at [e-mail]

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