Samsung and Google have cemented their relationship with a new cross patent licensing agreement. On their official blog, Samsung announced that both companies entered in a “long-term cooperative partnership with a global patent cross-license agreement covering a broad range of technologies and business areas.”
While there’s no mention of any monetary consideration, the blog post says it covers existing patents as well as patents filed over the next 10-years from both the companies.
It goes without saying that these patents can be used as leverage against Apple who’s been fighting with both the companies in separate lawsuits.
However, as Foss Patents points out, this cooperation could also be a way to show other technology companies (read: Apple) that two giants can coexist instead of litigating.
This agreement with Google is highly significant for the technology industry. Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes.
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