Google and Samsung have announced a substantial and long-term cross-licensing agreement. This agreement will allow the companies to use each other’s existing patents, and any new patents filed, for the next 10 years. [1]
Cross-licensing is a contract between two parties in which each party grants their intellectual property rights to the other. As such, the parties are free to use one another’s technology.
This licensing agreement follows a trend of several other high profile cross licensing agreements in the last few years. Samsung also has a cross-licensing agreement with Microsoft, and both Apple and Microsoft have cross-licensing agreements with the Taiwanese cell phone manufacturer HTC. [2]
Both Google and Samsung have expressed a desire to avoid the court room. Allen Lo, Deputy General Counsel for Patents at Google said: “By working together on agreements like this, companies can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation.” [3]
Google and Samsung have been seen as allies for some time, working together on the Android operating system; thus this agreement isn’t surprising. However, in recent years, Google has been changing their focus to mobile hardware. Google Glass is soon expected to become available at lower prices, Chromecast has been a hot seller, and rumors of a Nexus set-top persist. [4] This deal will likely give Google access to many valuable Samsung hardware patents.
Samsung will also receive significant of benefits, gaining access to patents associated with the Android operating system, which may be useful for its developing Android-free Tizen operating system.
Whether this deal will prove wise for Samsung and Google remains to be seen; for now, they both seem to be content taking pot shots at Apple. Dr. Seungho Ahn, the Head of Samsung’s Intellectual Property Center, has said, “Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes.” [5]
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