Apple and Ericsson are at each other’s throats again. Peter Cohen at RCR Wireless wrote up a story last week that had the Swedish telecoms company suing Apple over the Cupertino-company’s continued use of 5G technology in violation of Ericsson patents. Apple used to have rights to use the technology, but those deals expired, it seems. “What’s at issue,” according to the RCR:
…is how much Apple will pay Ericsson for the privilege of using 5G in its devices. Ericsson wants $5 per iPhone. Apple thinks it should pay less, since its marketshare is much greater now than it was in 2015 [when the last patent agreement was set]. What’s more, said Apple, Ericsson’s overall share of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) has decreased.
Anyway, that’s what was at issue, and still is as Ericsson sees it. Since Peter’s story though, Apple has countersued. A piece from Apple Insider has the Cupertino-company arguing that Ericsson suing Apple in different jurisdictions for various amounts indicates that Ericsson does “not want a Court setting fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory ('FRAND') terms for their patents.” Anyway, that seems to be the argument. It looks like Apple is trying to get Ericsson back to the bargaining table. “If Ericsson is not ‘willing to withdraw all of their lawsuits and legal actions,’” the piece says, “Apple wants the court to decide what a fair license fee should be.” Perhaps as added incentive, the iPhone maker has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to block some of Ericsson’s mobile infrastructure products from entering the States. Apple says the products in question violate some of Apple’s patents related mmWave technology.
