Apple has filed a lawsuit against Ericsson over alleged excessive royalty demands for its patents, arguing its LTE wireless technology patents are not vital to industry cellular standards.
Apple has stated that it has not infringed Ericsson’s patents and does not owe royalties to them.
The iPhone maker added that the networking firm has been seeking royalties for the LTE technology as a percentage of the price of the overall smartphone or tablet.
In its lawsuit, cited by Bloomberg, Apple noted: "Ericsson seeks to exploit its patents to take the value of these cutting- edge Apple innovations, which resulted from years of hard work by Apple engineers and designers and billions of dollars of Apple research anddevelopment – and which have nothing to do with Ericsson’s patents."
The iPhone maker noted that the royalties need to be based on the value of the processor chip integrating the technology.
Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet added: "We’ve always been willing to pay a fair price to secure the rights to standards essential patents covering technology in our products."
"Unfortunately, we have not been able to agree with Ericsson on a fair rate for their patents so, as a last resort, we are asking the courts for help."
In response, Ericsson also sought a ruling from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on its proposed global licensing fees with the iPhone maker.
Ericsson claims that the global license agreement between both firms for mobile technology has already expired and the iPhone maker has refused to obtain a new license on offered FRAND terms.
Ericsson chief intellectual property officer Kasim Alfalahi said: "Our goal is to reach a mutually beneficial resolution with Apple."
"They have been a valued partner for years and we hope to continue that partnership. Global sharing of technology has created the success of the mobile industry and allowed new entrants to quickly build successful businesses."
"We believe it is reasonable to get fair compensation from companies benefitting from the development we have made over the course of the last 30 years."
