A Blog by Jonathan Low

 

Feb 9, 2011

IBM and Samsung: Biggest IP Cross-Licensing Deal Ever?

As IP grows in value, corporations are re-thinking the strategic uses to which it can be deployed to better extend their platforms and, by extension, sales and profits. As the following story from IAM points out, this is not just the province of start-ups and VCs. Big begets bigger:


IBM and Samsung have agreed a global patent cross-licensing deal that must rank among the biggst ever concluded. According to a press release put out by Big Blue yesterday:

IBM and Samsung have built strong patent portfolios covering a wide range of technologies including semiconductors, telecommunications, visual and mobile communications, software and technology-based services. This cross-licensing agreement enables the two companies to innovate and operate freely while using each other's patented inventions to help keep pace with sophisticated technology and business demands.

The companies said the cooperation fostered by cross-licensing reinforces their ability to provide better products and services, while maintaining their competitiveness.

As the press release also points out, IBM is the perennial number one recipient of US patent grants. It has hed that spot for the last 18 years. Recently, Samsung has made second place its own. So we are clearly talking about the companies having access to tens of thousands of each other's patents.

The deal does not seem to have been inspired by any specific event, such as a major litigaiton; instead it looks to be much more a case of two companies working out that such a move brings considerable benefits in terms of freedom of action. This is certainly something that seems to have been weighing heavily on Samsung minds over recent times. In October 2010, it emerged that the company had concluded a $280 million licensing arrangement with Micron, while later on in the year it signed a deal with Intellectual Ventures that gives Samsung access to IV's considerabe portfolio of rights.

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