By Dominic Chopping and Juhana Rossi
STOCKHOLM-- Ericsson AB said Friday it is suing Apple Inc. for
infringing technology patents it says are critical to many aspects
of the U.S. tech giant's popular mobile devices such as iPhones and
iPads.
The Swedish telecom equipment supplier said Apple had declined a
licensing deal and refused an offer to have a court determine fair
licensing terms by which both companies would be bound.
"Our last offer was to have this determination either in [a
federal court in] Texas or in a court selected by Apple in
California. They declined," said Gustav Brismark, head of patent
strategy at Ericsson.
Ericsson and Apple had a licensing agreement which required
Apple to pay royalties for its use of technology patented by
Ericsson. The agreement, originally struck in 2008, expired in
January.
Mr. Brismark told The Wall Street Journal that Ericsson is
trying to negotiate a new licensing agreement which is based on the
same principles as the previous agreement.
"We're seeking a fair resolution. We believe that the royalties
that we're demanding are reflected in the value that our technology
brings to these products," Mr. Brismark said.
Due to what Mr. Brismark called Apple's refusal to negotiate,
Ericsson has now filed two complaints with the U.S. International
Trade Commission, and seven complaints in the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas.
In January, Ericsson and Apple said they were suing each other
in a dispute over royalties for patents linked to high-speed
wireless technology. Ericsson said at the time it was taking the
legal action in response to claims by Apple that the patents aren't
"essential" for the LTE wireless communication standard.
However, Apple characterized the royalties Ericsson has been
asking for as "excessive" in a federal court filing linked to its
dispute.
A spokesman for Apple on Friday referred to the company's
statement in January. "We've always been willing to pay a fair
price to secure the rights to standards essential patents covering
technology in our products. Unfortunately, we 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," Apple said in a
statement on Jan. 14.
Ericsson is seeking "to exploit its patents" to take value from
Apple's "cutting-edge" innovations which cost billions of dollars
in research and development and which have nothing to do with
Ericsson's patents, Apple stated in a filing made to the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of California on January
12.
The lawsuit Ericsson disclosed on Friday concerns patents that
relate to 2Q and 4G long-term evolution standards and features that
Ericsson said are critical to the functionality of Apple
devices.
Ericsson said the legal action is aimed at securing an exclusion
order against Apple's products, as well as damages and
injunctions.
"By refusing Ericsson's fair and reasonable licensing offer for
patented technology used in Apple smartphones and tablets, Apple
harms the entire market and reduces the incentive to share
innovation," the company said in a statement.
Kasim Alfalahi, chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson,
said, "Apple's products benefit from the technology invented and
patented by Ericsson's engineers."
"Apple currently uses our technology without a license and
therefore we are seeking help from the court and the ITC."
Apple couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com and Juhana
Rossi at juhana.rossi@wsj.com
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