In an era where a good portion of the technology industry seems dedicated to doing nothing other than filing patent infringement suits, a bit of uplifting news: Reuters reports that Sony and LG have reached a settlement in their patent infringement suit and counter-suit over LG mobile phones, televisions, and the Blu-ray drive in Sony’s PlayStation 3.
The terms of the deal have no been disclosed, but the companies have dropped the lawsuits and apparently reached a cross-licensing deal that will enable them to keep producing their respective products.
Sony and LG had had a broad cross-licensing deal that covered many technologies; however, the agreement expired three years ago and the companies were unable to come to terms on a new one. As a result, the companies launched a wide range of infringement suits in both the United States and Europe, mainly as moves to apply pressure on the other to reach a settlement. LG suit over the Blu-ray drives in Sony’s PlayStation 3, launched last February, was particularly effective: the company managed to get shipments of PS3 units briefly halted in Europe.
