Apple has filed suit against Ericsson alleging that it has not infringed on the Swedish company’s LTE wireless technology patents, and that it does not owe royalties for them. The Cupertino firm says the patents are not essential to industry cellular patents.
Apple says that the mobile telecoms gear maker is seeking royalties for the LTE technology calculated as a percentage of the price of the entire smartphone or tablet.
The royalties should be based on the value of the processor chip that includes the technology, Apple said in the lawsuit filed in a federal court in California.
If the court finds Ericsson’s patents are indeed essential, and that Apple has indeed infringed on them, the iPhone maker wants the court to assign a reasonable royalty rate.
“We’ve always been willing to pay a fair price to secure the rights to standards essential patents covering technology in our products. Unfortunately, we have not been able to agree with Ericsson on a fair rate for their patents so, as a last resort, we are asking the courts for help,” said Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet.
