Ericsson sued Apple for infringement of its 5G patent rights after the license expired

Apple is being sued by Ericsson for continuing to use the Swedish company's 5G patents in the iPhone after the license agreement expires. Ericsson has thus filed two lawsuits involving a total of 12 separate patents. The lawsuits came after long negotiations with Apple failed to end before the company's previous license agreement expired.

The lawsuits were filed in the West End of Texas, but also in at least one unknown jurisdiction outside the United States, IAM reported.

"Apple first received Ericsson's basic 2G and 3G patent grants when it released its first iPhone in 2008," both lawsuits said. In 2015, Apple and Ericsson executed another global cross-licensing that covers patents related to 2G, 3G and 4G mobile phone standards. Based on the expiration of these licenses, Apple no longer receives licenses for Ericsson's basic patents. "

These cases cannot be brought until the license expires, but they are not the first time that Apple or Ericsson have gone to court. In October 2021, Ericsson launched an early lawsuit to prevent Apple from filing a "surprise lawsuit" that tried to devalue these patents by determining that they were not essential patents.

Subsequently, Apple sued Ericsson separately in December 2021, saying the company used "tough tactics" in patent negotiations.

The legal dealings are similar to a series of lawsuits the two companies experienced in 2015, when they were settled through a new patent licensing agreement that would expire and a new round of fighting would begin.