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Ericsson takes action for fair and reasonable patent licensing

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — (Marketwire) — 11/27/12 —

* Ericsson has filed a patent infringement action against Samsung after
it refused to sign a license agreement on FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and
Non-Discriminatory) terms, despite two years of negotiations

* Ericsson believes it must take action to support a crucial system for
technology sharing that has helped create today-s mass market
communications industry

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has today filed a lawsuit in the United States
against
Samsung for infringing its patents, after nearly two years of negotiations
failed to reach an agreement.

The dispute concerns both Ericsson-s patented technology that is essential
to
several telecommunications and networking standards used by Samsung-s
products
as well as other of Ericsson-s patented inventions that are frequently
implemented in wireless and consumer electronics products. Ericsson has
concluded that it has no option other than legal action after negotiations
have
not been successful since Samsung has refused to take a license on FRAND
terms.

Ericsson helped to create the mobile telephone system by contributing
hundreds
of its inventions to the standard in exchange for a fair royalty. To date,
Ericsson has signed more than 100 license agreements with all major players
in
the industry.

In 2011 alone, Ericsson spent SEK 32.6 b. (USD 5.0 b.) on research and
development. This has resulted in hundreds of patented inventions that are
essential to the standards that drive global communications, such as GSM,
GPRS,
EDGE, WCDMA, LTE and 802.11 as well as many other patented inventions that
are
widely implemented in most popular wireless and consumer electronics
products.
Ericsson holds one of the strongest patent portfolios in the industry with
more
than 30,000 patents worldwide.

Ericsson is committed to licensing its standard-essential patents on Fair,
Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms for the benefit of the
industry.
It believes that FRAND licensing strikes the appropriate balance between
incentivizing companies to contribute technology to open standards and
maintaining the overall royalty rates at a reasonable level to allow new
entrants access to the market.

“By the end of 2012 there will be approximately 6.6 billion mobile
subscriptions
in the world. The sharing of technology in the telecom industry is one of
the
main drivers behind this development. The telecom ecosystem builds on fair
and
reasonable terms that have created an attractive global mass market for
mobility
and broadband with Ericsson as a main contributor”, says Kasim Alfalahi,
Chief
Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson.

The rapid growth of mobile devices and subscriptions is driven by strong
R&D
investments and sharing of technology by leading industry players such as
Ericsson.

Other companies that wish to use technology invented by Ericsson need a
license
to do so. These license agreements have helped create today-s highly
successful
global communications industry by driving scale and creating low barriers
of
entry to new players.

The industry-s eco-system functions on mutual respect and shared commercial
interests. Ericsson is fully committed to supporting this system and the
basis
of trust that underlies it.

Legal background

Despite nearly two years of negotiations involving the most senior
management of
both companies, Samsung refused to renew its license to Ericsson-s industry
leading portfolio of telecommunications patents on the same (“FRAND”) terms
that
its competitors have previously accepted.

Samsung previously licensed Ericsson-s patents in 2001 and renewed in 2007,
but
its license has now expired. Ericsson has extended an offer to Samsung to
renew
the license during negotiations that have lasted nearly two years. These
negotiations have not been successful since Samsung has refused to take a
license on FRAND terms.

“Ericsson has over 30,000 patents and more than 100 license agreements with
all
major players in the industry. Ericsson has tried long and hard to amicably
come
to an agreement with Samsung and to sign a license agreement on FRAND
terms. We
have turned to litigation as a last resort,” Mr Alfalahi said.

The complaint is filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of
Texas,
USA, which is the district where Ericsson-s US headquarters is located.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Photos of Kasim Alfalahi attached

Download high-resolution photos and broadcast-quality video at

Ericsson is the world-s leading provider of communications technology and
services. We are enabling the Networked Society with efficient real-time
solutions that allow us all to study, work and live our lives more freely,
in
sustainable societies around the world.

Our offering comprises services, software and infrastructure within
Information
and Communications Technology for telecom operators and other industries.
Today
more than 40 percent of the world-s mobile traffic goes through Ericsson
networks and we support customers- networks servicing more than 2.5 billion
subscribers.

We operate in 180 countries and employ more than 100,000 people. Founded in
1876, Ericsson is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2011 the company-s
net
sales were SEK 226.9 billion (USD 35.0 billion). Ericsson is listed on
NASDAQ
OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ, New York stock exchanges.

Kasim Alfalahi Photo 1:

Kasim Alfalahi Photo 2:

Ericsson takes action for fair and reasonable patent licensing (pdf):

This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
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(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and

(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Ericsson via Thomson Reuters ONE

[HUG#1660699]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Ericsson Corporate Public & Media Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
E-mail:

Ericsson Investor Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 00 00
E-mail:

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