ericsson
14 January 2013Patents

Unwired Planet expands portfolio with Ericsson patents

Non-practising entity Unwired Planet has bought more than 2,000 patents and patent applications from Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson, it announced on Thursday.

The deal will expand Unwired Planet’s portfolio from 275 patents to around 2,500, giving it traction in its ongoing IP battles with Apple, Google and Research in Motion.

Many of the acquired patents relate to 2G, 3G and long-term evolution (4G LTE) technologies.

Under the terms of the agreement Ericsson will add 100 further patents to Unwired Planet’s portfolio on a yearly basis, from 2014 to 2018.

In return Unwired Planet will pay Ericsson an undisclosed sum for the patents.

Ericsson will also retain agreed rights to any revenues generated by the patents and receive a license to Unwired Planet’s existing patents.

“Our inventions have delivered massive social value and this transaction with Ericsson reflects our commitment to protecting and realising value from this innovation,” said Mike Mulica, chief executive officer of Unwired Planet.

“We look forward to leveraging a strong, multi-dimensional patent portfolio and furthering discussions with key industry players who are interested in licensing these inventions to protect and further build their product strategies.”

Ericsson teamed up with Unwired Planet in the 1990s when developing Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) technologies, which would eventually allow Internet use on mobile phones.

Ericsson is the world’s leading telecommunications equipment provider, with 40 percent of all mobile traffic passing through its networks.

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8 April 2016   Unwired Planet will sell its intellectual property licensing business to Optis UP Holdings for $30 million.