Apple has taken Ericsson to court challenging the Swedish vendor's royalty rates for LTE patents, and asserting that the patents are not essential for LTE standards.
Apple is using the suit to claim that it has not infringed on LTE patents and therefore does not need to pay royalties, Reutersreported.
But in the event that the US court does find infringement and that Ericsson's IP is essential to LTE standards, Apple wants the court to require Ericsson to set reasonable royalty rates.
According to the filing, Ericsson currently calculates royalty rates as a percentage of the total cost of the smartphone and tablet, but Apple believes they should be based on the value of the processor including the LTE technology.
Ericsson and Apple signed a license agreement in 2008 covering many Ericsson patents, but the companies have not been able to agree on a fair rate.
Apple also has far more market power now than during 2008, when it had barely launched the first iPhone, so the vendor appears to be set on renegotiating its terms with Ericsson.