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.
Already registered?
Login to your account
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk