Patent Battle: Sony Ericsson Fears no Patent War
Patents are increasingly becoming the currency in the fight for rights, to increase revenue and to build a stronger market share. And every week, suits and countersuits are spinning around software patents apparently being infringed upon by Android-based smartphones and tablets.
Sony Ericsson, however, isn’t worried about defending its own products and could manage to avoid any major patents dispute. Sony Ericsson will not be drawn into the patent wars with competitors, the company has a large existing patent portfolio and has a policy to cross-license these patents, says Sony Ericsson Chief Executive Bert Nordberg.
“Right now this industry is in the midst of the largest patent war that I have ever experienced,” said Nordberg. “Ours is one of the most patent safe companies around. Apart from our own 6,000 patents, we’re licensed to use the combined patent portfolios of both our owners, Sony and Ericsson,” he said.
Patent and license rights violations seem the most popular causes of action amongst mobile vendors today. The Google-Motorola deal gives Google a significant 24,000-patent with which it can defend its popular Android smartphone franchise. Apple and Microsoft at the start of the year won a $4.5 billion proposal to purchase 6,000 patents previously held by Nortel Networks.
There are currently several ongoing disputes between the industry such as Microsoft, Apple and Samsung. Samsung has been dragged to court by Apple, allegedly infringing on Apple’s patents. Microsoft alleges Google’s mobile OS infringed on its patents and now moving towards more aggressive strategy on patent royalty agreements. According to a report published by Goldman Sachs, Microsoft will generate a whopping $444 million in revenue from Android patent deals for the fiscal year 2012 alone.
Sony Ericsson has been engaged more on smartphone strategy using Google’s Android platform. The company had an ambitious plan to become the world’s leading manufacturer of Android handsets, though it currently has less than 15% of this market. Sony Ericsson will not be caught in the legal battles over patents, looking to take advantage of the ongoing spat amongst competitors to create a better position for itself.
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