Google and Samsung sign up for a 10-year patent licensing deal
Google and Samsung Electronics, which are frequently involved in patent infringement lawsuits but not against each other, yesterday announced they have reached a global patent cross-licensing agreement.
The deal covers patents currently owned by the companies, as well as any filed in the next 10 years, the companies said in a release. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The companies said the deal “would lead to deeper collaboration on research and development of current and future projects”.
“By working together on agreements like this, companies can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation,” stated Allen Lo, deputy general counsel for patents at Google.
Samsung’s Seungho Ahn, head of the company’s intellectual property centre, said the deal showed “the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes.”
The companies have been at the centre of the smartphone patent wars, though more as allies than foes. Most of the litigation has been between Apple and the various companies involved in making smartphones based on Google’s Android software.