AT&T along with a team of tech companies, are joining forces to put an end to lawsuits involving LTE patents. This group includes the likes of Clearwire and HP. The new partnership allows a patent pool that’ll bring fewer lawsuits over the use of LTE technology, according to Via Licensing Corporation.
In addition to AT&T, Clearwire, and HP, the first companies contributing their patents to the pool are DTVG Licensing, KDDI, NTT DoCoMo, SK Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, and ZTE. The patents that are being bargained on are believed to be FRAND (fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory) patents that are essential to today’s technology in phones. This is a smart move for all companies, as it lets compatibility between devices and rival products happen without anyone being sued. Furthermore, manufacturers are expected to have access to these trove of patents as well.
Roger Ross II, president of Via, had this to say in a statement:
Wireless innovation is threatened by costly patent litigation and a lack of predictability surrounding the cost and availability of necessary IP. Working closely with the leading industry players, Via has developed a straightforward way to make available LTE standard-essential patents in a fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory fashion. A LTE patent pool based on the best practices prescribed by global antitrust and competition authorities helps patent owners fulfill their obligations to standards bodies while supporting a level playing field among innovators. As an independent administrator, Via is committed to meeting the needs of both patent owners and companies deploying LTE products and services.
This is just the beginning to worldwide peace when it comes to the usage of LTE technology. Unfortunately, big LTE patent holders like Nokia and Samsung have yet agreed to join the pool party.
[Via Licensing Corporation; via cnet]