Ericsson seeks Samsung US sales ban
Ericsson has filed a request to ban US imports of Samsung products, after suing the South Korean company last week.
After reaching a standstill following two years of talks, the swedish telecom company imposed a patent infringement action against Samsung after it refused to sign a license agreement on FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) terms.
But now that has extended to a US sales ban request, despite Ericsson maintaining that is not their desired stance.
"The request for an import ban is a part of the process. An import ban is not our goal. Our goal is that they (Samsung) sign license agreements on reasonable terms," spokesman Fredrik Hallstan told Reuters.
Ericsson launched its legal case as a result of the communication breakdown, issuing the following statement last week:
"Ericsson believes it must take action to support a crucial system for technology sharing that has helped create today's mass market communications industry
"The dispute concerns both Ericsson's patented technology that is essential to several telecommunications and networking standards used by Samsung's products as well as other of Ericsson's patented inventions that are frequently implemented in wireless and consumer electronics products.
"Ericsson has concluded that it has no option other than legal action after negotiations have not been successful since Samsung has refused to take a license on FRAND terms.
"Ericsson helped to create the mobile telephone system by contributing hundreds of its inventions to the standard in exchange for a fair royalty.
"To date, Ericsson has signed more than 100 license agreements with all major players in the industry.
In 2011 alone, Ericsson spent around $5 billion on research and development, resulting in hundreds of patented inventions that the company believe "are essential to the standards that drive global communications."
As a result the company holds one of the strongest patent portfolios in the industry with over 30,000 patents worldwide.
"By the end of 2012 there will be approximately 6.6 billion mobile subscriptions in the world. The sharing of technology in the telecom industry is one of the main drivers behind this development," says Kasim Alfalahi, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson.
"The telecom ecosystem builds on fair and reasonable terms that have created an attractive global mass market for mobility and broadband with Ericsson as a main contributor.
"Other companies that wish to use technology invented by Ericsson need a license to do so.
"These license agreements have helped create today's highly successful global communications industry by driving scale and creating low barriers of entry to new players."
