Ericsson Sues Samsung Over Patents

Ericsson said on Friday that it had filed a lawsuit against mobile phone manufacturer Samsung, accusing it of patent infringement in a number of countries. Ericsson says agreements with Samsung to license GSM, GPRS and EDGE technologies had expired at the end of 2005 and the companies have been unable to negotiate new deals.

A spokesperson for Ericsson said the company has spent large amounts of money on research and development, a common practice in the technology industry. She added that a lawsuit was in the best interest of the company's shareholders and investors. Representatives from Samsung had no comment.