Ericsson sues Apple in WDTX over telecoms SEPs
Ericsson has sued Apple for infringing 12 of its telecom patents after the two companies failed to renew licensing agreements.
The telecom giant filed two separate lawsuits targeting Apple in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas on Monday, January 17.
The first suit claims that Apple infringed four of its patents—US Patent 8,102,805; 9,532,355; 10,425,817; and 11,139,872
The second alleges infringement of eight of its patents—US Patent 7,151,430; 7,957,770; 8,472,999; 8,792,454; 9,509,273; 9,705,400; 9,853,621; and 10,880,794.
These include 5G standard-essential patents (SEPs), which Apple incorporates in iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches.
Apple had previously held licenses to the 12 patents but the two parties had failed to reach a new licensing agreement at the tail end of 2021, prompting Ericsson to take legal action.
Ericsson is now seeking a jury trial on Apple’s alleged infringement, a permanent injunction barring Apple from infringing the patents, and damages.
This is the latest action in an escalating dispute between the two companies, which has heated up in the past couple of months with lawsuits filed in both the US and Netherlands.
FRAND dispute
The WACO lawsuits follow last November’s legal action bought by Ericsson against Apple in the Eastern District of Texas, after Apple had refused to accept a renewed licensing agreement, claiming Ericsson had violated fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
In this lawsuit, Ericsson said that Apple had attempted to leverage its “superior financial position” in order to drive down royalty rates in negotiations. Claimed that its offer of $5 per handset for 5G/NR multimode royalty rates was FRAND.
Ericsson sought a ruling from the Texas court that it is compliant with European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) licensing policy and that it is prepared to grant licences to its SEPs to Apple on FRAND terms.
Apple’s countersuit
Apple then filed its own countersuit in the same court in December, claiming that Ericsson had used “strong-arm tactics” in order to impede Apple ahead of negotiations to renew its patent licencing agreements.
According to Apple’s complaint, Ericsson “secretly” went to court in the Netherlands and “misrepresented” Apple’s conduct in negotiations in order to obtain a temporary order preventing Apple from seeking judicial protection in negotiations.
Apple also asked the court rule that three of Ericsson’s 5G SEO patents were not essential to the 5G standard and that it does not infringe them.
The complaint said that Ericsson’s FRAND offer was “merely a summary of Ericsson’s publicly demanded license rates” and that it had sued Apple in the East Texas court “six minutes” after it had sent the offer, claiming Apple was “unwilling” to agree to Ericson’s terms.
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