Samsung licenses InterDigital patents

In another sign that wireless patent litigation may slowly be subsiding, Samsung has settled all disputes with InterDigital. InterDigital is a research company that earns most of its revenue from patent licensing. The company says its licensing agreement with Samsung is worth almost $500 million, and covers Samsung sales of 3G, 4G and certain future generation wireless products.
InterDigital CEO William Merritt described the settlement as “fair and reasonable,” and said it proves the value of his company’s patent licensing framework.
“The agreement also underscores the broad portfolio of technologies we’ve contributed and continue to contribute to the entire industry, and represents another important step towards our efforts to bring a significant portion of major terminal unit providers under license,” said Merritt.
In addition to patent licensing, InterDigital is heavily involved in 5G standards research, and is actively looking for ways to directly monetize its research. Merritt has said that M2M and the “network as a service” are two of the most promising areas for his company. InterDigital is also working with partners to monetize a video optimization solution that uses device sensors to detect ambient light in a room and user distance from the device.
For Samsung, this agreement is the second major patent dispute resolution in less than a year. In January Ericsson announced a major settlement with Samsung that ended all patent-related legal disputes between the companies. Also in January, Samsung signed a 10-year global cross-licensing agreement with Google.
Meanwhile the wireless industry’s highest-profile patent litigation remains unresolved. Apple has requested a retrial of the most recent court case between the two companies, as well as an injunction that would prevent Samsung from selling the devices found to infringe Apple’s patents.
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