Samsung and Google enter into patent agreements

Samsung and Google have entered into an agreement on cross-licensing patents. The agreement covers existing patents and those received in the next ten years. Accordingly, the contract is valid until 2024.

The official statement does not say that the agreement applies to absolutely all patents, but it applies to “many product categories” and is not limited to mobile communications.

Samsung and Google used to be on the same side in the global patent war. Perhaps their main opponent can be called Apple. The Apple Company is trying not to attack Google directly, but it sues Samsung, and Apple’s claims often concern “copying” Android elements of the Apple iPhone operating system.
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In any case, the deal between Samsung and Google is a good example of how cooperation is better than legal opposition.

“The agreement with Google is extremely important for the entire technology industry,” said Dr. Seungho Ahn, director of intellectual property at Samsung. “Google and Samsung are showing all the rest of the industry that it’s more profitable to cooperate with each other than to get involved in non-binding patent disputes.”

Google representatives also approve of the contract: “Working together under such agreements, companies can reduce the likelihood of lawsuits and concentrate more on innovation,” said Allen Lo, a leading lawyer.

Samsung is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile devices running the Android operating system. Samsung has a similar cross-licensing agreement with Nokia, which was recently extended until 2018.

In 2013, Samsung received 4,676 US patents (second place after IBM), and Google is in 11th place in this statistic, with 1,851 patents. However, Google has a large patent portfolio, acquired together with the mobile division of Motorola in 2012 for $ 12.5 billion.