The much-anticipated trial between Apple and Ericsson, related to a dispute over licensing fees for a number of 4G and 5G patents, will not take place until June 2023.
According to the news site Foss Patents, Apple was hoping to get the trial started as early as December, but the East Texas court that specialises in these kinds of cases deemed this too early.
The dispute between the two tech giants forms part of their regular negotiations over patent licensing fees; the last time such negotiations broke down, back in 2015, they sued each other before eventually reaching a settlement. That settlement expired at the end of 2021, whereupon Apple sued Ericsson, citing “strong-arm tactics”. Ericsson in turn sued Apple in three countries at once for what is now allegedly unlicensed use of its patents.
Given the way the US legal system works, we can probably expect a number of appeals back and forth until one party agrees to a settlement, which could take several years.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.