The U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating Ericsson’s claims that Apple violated its patents, PC World reports.
Apple sued Ericsson in January, claiming Ericsson was charging too much for patents it holds and that the patents are no longer essential for the LTE technology in Apple’s iPhones, iPads and other cellular-enabled products. Ericsson counter-sued, arguing Apple had infringed on its patents and that the price demanded to use the technology was fair and non-discriminatory.
With those lawsuits likely to take years to play out in court, Ericsson has turned to the ITC, which can act quickly to ban products from being imported into the U.S. Such an import ban would immediately affect sales, so companies like Ericsson are increasingly using the threat of ITC action to force settlements in patent disputes.
