Ericsson and ZTE resolve patent license issues

In April 2011 Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) filed lawsuits in Germany, UK and Italy against ZTE for infringing on several Ericsson patents related to GSM and 3G/UMTS cellular technology The parties have now signed a global cross-licensing agreement and both parties have also agreed to drop all litigation. "Ericsson has the strongest patent portfolio in the industry with over 27,000 patents and any company which sells mobile devices or systems needs a license from Ericsson. We have signed more than 90 patent agreements with different vendors worldwide. Now we can add ZTE to this group," says Kasim Alfalahi, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson. ZTE signs a royalty bearing cross-licensing agreement that complies with Fair, Reasonable and Non- Discriminatory (FRAND) royalty compensation for access to part of Ericsson's patent portfolio.