Usually when we hear patent-related news, it involves lawsuits in which one company is trying to score a sales ban on another firm's products. Things are a bit different today, though, because Samsung and Google have announced that they've come together to strike a broad patent licensing agreement.
The new deal is a global patent cross-licensing agreement between Google and Samsung that covers a "broad range of technologies and business areas." Included in the deal are patents that are currently held by both companies as well as any patents filed in the next 10 years, and Samsung says that the deal will help lead to a deeper collaboration between the two companies on the development of both current and future products.
"We’re pleased to enter into a cross-license with our partner Samsung. By working together on agreements like this, companies can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation," said Google Deputy General Counsel Allen Lo. Dr. Seungho Ahn, head of Samsung's Intellectual Property Center, echoed Google's sentiment, describing the deal as "highly significant" and saying that the agreement between the two companies shows that "there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes."
As I mentioned before, typically when the topic of patents comes up in the mobile world, it involves two firms exchanging legal blows. That's why it's nice to see Google and Samsung coming together and striking a global patent cross-licensing agreement, especially since the deal covers any patents filed by both companies over the next 10 years. While we're sure to see more lawsuits filed in the mobile space in the future, at least we know that there won't be any battles between Google and Samsung cropping up.
Via Samsung
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