The Swedish firm Ericsson owns a large number of patents on technologies used in mobile networks – so-called FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) patents that must be licensed to companies that want to build mobile phones and other devices that connect to mobile networks.
The company has a licensing agreement with Apple that was negotiated in 2015 and will expire at the end of this year; the tech giants have been trying to renegotiate the terms. But things are not going well.
Six years ago, the two companies sued each other because the negotiations went nowhere, and now it looks like the same thing will happen again. Apple has just filed a lawsuit against Ericsson in a Texas court, accusing the company of “strong-arm tactics”, according to Patently Apple.
Apple’s goal, of course, is to pay as little as possible in licensing fees for each iPhone made, and the company has hired two “rock star” lawyers, according to Foss Patents, in order to have the best possible chance of winning the case.
Foss Patents’ Florian Mueller predicts “a slew of infringement filings” after the agreement expires in 10 days’ time. The clock is ticking.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.
Author: Anders Lundberg, Contributing Editor
Anders has worked for Macworld Sweden for many years. He writes news, reviews and tutorials related to the Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch.