Apple and Ericsson are suing each other

Apple and Ericsson are suing each other in US courts after failing to reach an agreement over the pricing of wireless technology patents used by the former for its iPhones and iPads.

The iPhone maker said that the royalties should be based on the value of the processor chip that includes the technology. It further alleged that Ericsson is demanding excessive royalties for these patents and asked a federal court in California to rule that the Swedish company's LTE wireless technology patents aren’t essential to industry cellular standards.

In response, Stockholm-based Ericsson filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas requesting for the court’s verdict, if its global licensing offer for Ericsson's standard essential patent portfolios to Apple is fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND)

“Ericsson seeks to exploit its patents to take the value of these cutting-edge Apple innovations, which resulted from years of hard work by Apple engineers and designers and billions of dollars of Apple research and development — and which have nothing to do with Ericsson’s patents,” Cupertino, California-based Apple said in its complaint.

Kasim Alfalahi, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson, said: "Our goal is to reach a mutually beneficial resolution with Apple. They have been a valued partner for years and we hope to continue that partnership. Global sharing of technology has created the success of the mobile industry and allowed new entrants to quickly build successful businesses. We believe it is reasonable to get fair compensation from companies benefiting from the development we have made over the course of the last 30 years."