Ericsson, Huawei extend global patent agreement

NEW DELHI: Telecom equipment major Ericsson with Huawei have agreed on extending their global patent license agreement between the two companies.

The agreement includes a cross license that covers patents relating to both companies' wireless standard-essential patents (including the GSM, UMTS and LTE cellular standards).

Under the agreement, both companies are able to access and implement the other company's standard essential patents and technologies globally.

As part of the renewed agreement,  Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei will make on-going royalty payment based upon actual sales to Ericsson from 2016 and onwards. Further details of the agreement are confidential.

"We are pleased to extend our global cross license agreement with Ericsson. This new agreement reflects the two leading companies' joint view that innovation and intellectual property rights shall be protected, and reasonable compensation for the implementation of intellectual property rights is vital to promoting technology innovation, sharing and standardizing technology, driving and accelerating industry evolution," said Jianxin Ding, Head of Global Intellectual Property, Huawei Technologies.

"We are happy to see an extension of the agreement. The extension shows our commitment to drive innovation and industry development. In the future, everyone and everything will be connected through the Networked Society and Internet of Things. Our role is to drive this transformation, opening up new ways to innovate, to collaborate, and to empower people, business, and society," said Kasim Alfalahi, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson.