Ericsson seeks US import ban on Samsung products

Ericsson is seeking a US import ban of Samsung products, following on from the legal action it filed against the South Korean technology giant last week over alleged patent infringement.

Reuters reports that the Swedish infrastructure company filed a request with the US International Trade Commission to ban the import of Samsung products that it claims infringe on its patents.

Ericsson spokesman Fredrik Hallstan told Reuters that the request for the import ban is “a part of the process,” with the goal being to prompt Samsung to “sign license agreements on reasonable terms,” rather than secure the sales ban.

When filing the patent infringement suit last week, Ericsson said Samsung had refused to sign FRAND licensing terms after two years of negotiations.

Samsung licensed Ericsson patents in 2001 and renewed the agreement in 2007. These licences have now expired, according to the Swedish company.

The dispute centres on “several telecommunications and networking standards” that Samsung uses in its devices along with “Ericsson’s patented inventions that are frequently implemented in wireless and consumer electronics products”. Ericsson did not put a value on its damages claim.

Ericsson holds more than 30,000 patents around the world and said it spent around US$5 billion on research and development in 2011.