Electronics giant Samsung has offered to temporarily make it easier for some rivals to access its patents on wireless technology, as part of a bid to end a European Union probe into its activities, the bloc’s executive said Thursday.
At issue are so-called standard essential patents (SEPs), which firms must license to others in a “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” way because of their importance to the industry.
Samsung is the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, televisions and memory chips. In 1998, it had pledged to EU regulators to make its essential patents available to competitors.
But in 2011 — amid a worldwide legal battle between Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy tablet computers — the South Korean company sued rivals in several EU states for infringing its patent rights.
The European Commission launched an investigation last year into whether its attempt to limit rivals’ use of its patents may have violated EU competition rules.
If the commission were to find that Samsung abused its dominant market position, the company could face stiff fines.
Samsung has now offered “to abstain from seeking injunctions for mobile SEPs for a period of five years against any company that agrees to a particular licensing framework,” the commission said.
Mobile SEPs cover the technology for smartphones and tablets.
The commission is inviting interested parties to share their thoughts on the proposal, before it decides how to proceed with its investigation.
“Enforcing patents through injunctions can be perfectly legitimate,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia noted.
“However, when patents are standard-essential, abuses must be prevented so that... consumers do not have to suffer negative consequences from the so-called patent wars,” he added.