Sweden's Ericsson said Samsung failed to renew an expired licence agreement after two years of negotiations.

 

Samsung said Ericsson was demanding higher royalty rates（专利费税率） for the same set of patents.

 

In recent months, almost all major mobile device companies globally have been involved in patent lawsuits. 

 

 

Ericsson, one of the earliest innovators in the telecommunications field, holds thousands of patents for technologies used in everyday global communication.

 

"The dispute concerns both Ericsson's patented technology that is essential to several telecommunications and networking standards used by Samsung's products as well as other of Ericsson's patented inventions that are frequently implemented in wireless and consumer electronics products," Ericsson said in a statement.

 

Ericsson's lawsuit was filed in a court in Texas where its American operations are headquartered.

 

It did not state the amount it was seeking from Samsung in damages.

 

However, Ericsson said it had earned $938m last year in revenue from more than 100 licence agreements with companies in the industry.

 

Samsung said it would contest the allegations.

 

"This time Ericsson has demanded significantly higher royalty rates for the same patent portfolio," the company said in a statement.