In a legal battle that has seemed to have gone on for years, Apple has sued Ericsson over 5G patent negotiations over pricing for patent licensing.
Apple filed the suit in a federal Texas court on Friday. Apple accuses Ericsson of “violating its obligations to license patents essential to industry standards on fair rates and is making unreasonable demands.” Apple goes on to accuse Ericsson of “strong-arm tactics” in negotiations for “critical” for mobile telecommunications technology. This news comes after Ericsson sued Apple in the same court accusing the Cupertino company of negotiating in “bad faith.”
In 2015 the two companies also had disagreements over patent licensing negotiations with Ericsson even trying to have the sale of iPhone banned in the US. Ultimately, the two came to a resolution and struck a deal covering 2G, 3G, and 4G networking technologies. Now that 5G technology is becoming more widespread, the new deal must include this technology and that’s where the litigation claims come into play.
Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit accusing Ericsson AB of using “strong-arm tactics” in negotiations to renew a 2015 license for technology critical to industrywide telecommunications standards, particularly for 5G mobile networks.
The lawsuit, filed late Friday in federal court in Texas, alleges Ericsson is violating its obligations to license patents essential to industry standards on fair rates and is making unreasonable demands. Ericsson sued in the same court in October accusing Apple of negotiating in “bad faith.”
The 2015 agreement, which covered 2G, 3G and 4G technology and expires this month, was signed only after protracted litigation, and the dueling.
