Samsung will pay hundreds of millions to settle its patent disputes with Ericsson, and has entered a wide-ranging patent cross-licensing deal with Google.
Ericsson announced it has reached a patent cross-licensing and settlement deal with Samsung, ending all ongoing legal disputes.
The deal will involve Samsung paying Ericsson initial and ongoing royalty payments. The size of the payments were not disclosed, but Ericsson said it expects to positively impact the company's sales for Q4 by 4.2 billion kronor ($654 million).
The agreement ends lawsuits filed by both companies against each other with the US ITC and a US District Court.
Samsung and Google separately revealed they have entered a 10-year patent cross-licensing agreement covering a wide range of technologies.
The two tech giants have always been close partners, but their relationship has grown more complicated as Samsung has grown, as evidenced by Samsung's work on the Android alternative Tizen OS.
But pundits have interpreted the deal as a sign Samsung is renewing its commitment to Android, and attempting to build a defensive patent portfolio against Apple in a bid to stave off future lawsuits.
“This agreement with Google is highly significant for the technology industry,” Dr. Seungho Ahn, the head of Samsung’s Intellectual Property Center, said in a statement.
“Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes.”