Late last month, it was revealed that Ericsson had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung, with the two companies unable to come to a licensing agreement after two years of negotiations. Now Ericsson has taken things a step further, with Reuters reporting that the company has filed a new complaint with the International Trade Commission that asks for a ban on the importation of several Samsung products. As noted by FOSS Patents, some of the products being targeted by Ericsson include the Galaxy S III, S II, Galaxy Note, Note II and several tablets.
The actual patents involved in the case between Ericsson and Samsung cover things like RF receiver tech, UI technology and some standardized communication protocols, such as EDGE and LTE. An Ericsson spokesperson has commented on the company's new filing, saying that asking for a ban on Samsung's products "is a part of the process." The full statement:
"The request for an import ban is a part of the process. An import ban is not our goal. Our goal is that they (Samsung) sign license agreements on reasonable terms."
Ericsson is going after Samsung because the latter company reportedly refused to license Ericsson's patents on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) basis, despite the fact that the companies had reached two licensing agreements in the past. Samsung has described the royalty rates that Ericsson is asking for its patents as "prohibitively higher" than what it's payed before, and it's said that it will "take all necessary legal measures" to defend itself. Obviously we don't yet know how this whole case will turn out, but it definitely appears to have gotten a bit more heated now that Ericsson has asked for a ban on several Samsung products.
Via Reuters, FOSS Patents
