By Juhana Rossi
Ericsson AB (ERIC) escalated its dispute with Apple Inc. (AAPL)
over licensing fees for patented wireless technology on Friday by
suing the maker of popular smartphones and tablets in three
European countries.
The Swedish network technology supplier said that it had filed
suits against Apple's products in Germany, the U.K. and the
Netherlands after Apple had declined to respond to Ericsson's offer
of settling the matter through arbitration.
"Apple continues to profit from Ericsson's technology without
having a valid license in place," Ericsson's Chief Intellectual
Property Officer Kasim Alfalahi said in a statement.
An Apple representative wasn't immediately available for a
comment.
Ericsson said that its legal action relates to patents linked
with 2G and 4G/LTE mobile technology standards and to other
technology such as the design of semiconductor components and
non-cellular wireless communications.
The legal row between Ericsson and Apple began in January with
the two companies suing and countersuing each in the U.S.
courts.
At the time, Apple stated it has always "been willing to pay a
fair price to secure the rights to standards essential patents
covering technology in our products," adding they "have not been
able to agree with Ericsson on a fair rate for their patents so, as
a last resort, we are asking the courts for help."
Patent and intellectual property disputes are fairly common in
the mobile device and wireless technology industries.
Apple and the Finnish telecom equipment supplier Nokia (NOK)
settled a two-year-long litigation in June 2011 after Apple agreed
to pay undisclosed compensation to Nokia.
In January 2014 Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHZ)
struck a multi-year licensing agreement. The agreement involved an
initial payment of 4.2 billion kronor ($508.2 million) from Samsung
to Ericsson. Ericsson recognized SEK3.3 billion of the payment as
net profit.
Write to Juhana Rossi at Juhana.Rossi@wsj.com
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