Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics and Google have agreed on a
global patent cross-licensing agreement. The new agreement will allow the two tech
giants to share currently owned
patents as well as any filed in the next ten years.
Our Yoo Li-an reports. Samsung Electronics and Google, which are
frequently involved in patent
infringement lawsuits, but not against each other, have agreed to share
their existing patents and those filed over the next ten years.
Without providing details,... the two companies emphasized the deal will
help them better avoid litigation. The head of Samsung's Intellectual Property
Center, Ahn Seung-ho, said in
a press release that "Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the
industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in
unnecessary patent disputes." The sentiment was echoed by Google's deputy
general counsel for patents,
Allen Lo, who said, "through agreements like this,... companies can reduce
the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation."
The comments appear to have been a direct shot at Apple, with which the
two companies have been engaged in a number of multinational patent
battles.
Samsung is the second largest patent holder in the United States and
Google is the eleventh, and the deal is expected to give both an edge in
upcoming patent battles. For Google,... pundits say the deal has broad
implications,... considering its
growing reach into hardware and wearables. With Samsung's hardware patents, Google can
more easily expand into the
wearable industry. Samsung,... which seemed like it was trying
to break away from Google's
Android platform to develop a mobile platform of its own,... will continue to
work with Google in that realm. Looking ahead,... the deal is also expected
to lead to deeper collaboration
on research and development of future projects. Yoo Li-an, Arirang News.