Tuesday 23 Apr 2024
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SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc sued Ericsson, alleging that the Swedish company’s LTE wireless technology patents are not essential to industry cellular standards and that it is demanding excessive royalties for these patents.

Apple says the mobile telecoms gear maker is seeking royalties for the LTE technology calculated as a percentage of the price of the entire smartphone or tablet.

The royalties should be based on the value of the processor chip that includes the technology, Apple said in the lawsuit filed in a federal court in California. If Ericsson’s patents are deemed essential and the court rules Apple has infringed on them, Apple said it wants the court to assign a reasonable royalty rate.

“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,” said Apple spokesman Kristin Huguet. — Reuters

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 15, 2015.

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