Apple enters into a ‘long-term’ patent use agreement with LG, claims report

LG Electronics received a one-time payment in patent licensing fees for around $600 million in April. However, the South Korea-based company didn’t name its customers who paid for the patent licensing deal. According to a report by The Elec, the licensing fee was paid by two companies and one of them was Apple. The report suggests that LG Electronics and the Cupertino-based tech giant have likely entered “a long-term patent use agreement of up to ten years,” which is also a standard for large conglomerates.

Which patents have Apple agreed on

The report couldn’t confirm the patents that Apple has agreed on using, however, it mentions that it includes “many standard essential patents.” As per the report, previously, both companies signed a cross-licensing agreement over patents.

Since LG has exited its smartphone business this agreement is no longer needed. The report also claims that LG will gain a bigger profit from the latest agreement as the company won’t have to pay Apple in return as it no longer manufactures smartphones. Nokia also has had similar agreements since it exited the handset business, the report added.

LG’s importance in Apple’s ecosystem

LG Electronics might not manufacture smartphones anymore, yet the company is still very important to Apple’s ecosystem. LG's Innotek department and the comapany's Display division supplies camera modules and displays to the Cupertino company, respectively. Moreover, LG Display is said to supply OLED panels for the upcoming iPhone 14 lineup which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Source