IBM and Samsung strike patent cross-licensing deal

Firms will be able to use each other's technology without fear of being taken to court

IBM and Samsung have shaken hands on a cross-licensing agreement which will allow the companies to use each other's patented technologies in order to innovate without fear of legal reprisals from the other party.

In a joint press release short on detail, IBM and Samsung said that the agreement will see the licensing of their respective patent portfolios to each other, and will ultimately help them provide better products and services, while maintaining competitiveness.

"This licensing agreement will help both companies expedite innovation and achieve business growth by providing each company with access to the other's patents for basic technologies," said Seungho Ahn, executive vice president and head of the IP Centre at Samsung Electronics.

"We also hope the agreement will open new opportunities for wider collaboration between two of the leading innovators in the technology industry. "

Ken King, vice president of patents, software and services intellectual property licensing at IBM, added that cross-licences of this sort allow " significant freedom of action, which is essential in the competitive global business environment".

These kinds of deals are not uncommon. Just last month, for example, Intel and Nvidia settled over the use of each other's chip and graphics technologies, while HP and Microsoft have signed several deals in the past few years.