Sony, Samsung reach unique deal to stop lawsuits
Publish date: 28 January 2005
Issue Number: 1264
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Intellectual property
Two electronics giants have struck a unique deal that legal experts hope could mean a decline in the spiralling lawsuits being brought by Japanese firms over patent infringements.
The Financial Times reports barely a month went by last year without some legal action by a Japanese electronics manufacturer, mostly against competitors in South Korea and Taiwan. But now Sony has announced it has agreed to a broad cross-licensing agreement with South Korea\'s Samsung, one of its most formidable foreign rivals. In terms of the agreement, Sony and Samsung will cross-licence those patents that are considered to be the basic technologies necessary for product development. On the other hand, they will not share technologies considered essential to differentiating their products from those of their competitors. However, there has been mixed reaction to the deal, with few of Sony\'s Japanese competitors wanting to follow its example. Other Japanese companies dismiss the agreement as impractical, if not strange. Full report in the Financial Times