Swedish telecommunications equipment vendor Ericsson has filed nine lawsuits against Apple seeking to ban several Apple products in the U.S.
The nine lawsuits combined claim a total of 41 copyright infringements, with seven of the lawsuits being filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and two in the U.S. International Trade Commission.
"Apple's products benefit from the technology invented and patented by Ericsson's engineers. Features that consumers now take for granted -- like being able to livestream television shows or access their favorite apps from their phone -- rely on the technology we have developed," said Kasim Alfalahi, chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson.
Apple has had a long history of court time in copyright infringement cases, both in cases where it was accused of copyright infringement and where it was accusing another company of infringing on its copyrights.
In this case, however, the issues are a little trickier. Many of the patents that Apple is infringing upon are at the core of how smartphones operate, including their ability to connect to 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks or even make phone calls.
Apple held licenses for these patents until last month, at which point Ericsson proposed new terms as the existing agreement ran out. Apple rejected these new conditions.
Apple rejecting the new terms is not all that surprising. These kinds of cases occur often when companies think they get better deals through the courts. In the past few years, courts have become increasingly against companies holding competitors hostage through patent control.
In the absence of an agreement between the two companies, Ericsson has asked the International Trade Commission to block sales of Apple's iPhone and iPad in the U.S. Ericsson is also seeking an unspecified amount of damages, saying in the suits that it did not know how much money it had lost because of Apple's refusal to agree to a license.
"We're seeking a fair resolution. We believe that the royalties that we're demanding are reflected in the value that our technology brings to these products," said Gustav Brismark, head of patent strategy at Ericsson.
Apple suggests that the new terms outlined by Ericsson were unfair and that it is willing to pay a fair price for the rights to essential patents related to the technology in its products. It went on to say that because of the fact that it has not be able to decide on a fair rate for the patents, it has asked courts for help.
