Google and Samsung have signed a ten year "global patent cross-license agreement" according to a statement on Samsung's website. This agreement is likely to promote collaboration on research and innovation between the two companies.
Over recent years a number of high profile and costly patent litigation disputes have arisen between many of the major smartphone developers and manufacturers, with one of the biggest being between Samsung and Apple, which has yet to be fully resolved. While this has been happening Google and Samsung have increasingly been developing a mutually beneficial relationship with the vast majority of Samsung's hardware running a stripped down version of Google's Android operation system. Therefore this patent licensing agreement between Google and Samsung is of little surprise, and follows on from Samsung's lower profile deals recently with Microsoft, Nokia and Intellectual Ventures. Indeed it is reminiscent of the software-hardware symbiotic relationship between Microsoft and Intel during the home PC boom era. Google and Samsung have clearly realised that working together will be more profitable than fighting multi-billion dollar law suits in the courts.
Samsung's recent success, particularly from its Galaxy range of devices, has been built upon the Android platform and so it looks like Google and Samsung are planning to continue this success through the development of the next generation of smart devices. The patent agreement cements their already close relationship and provides reassurance, particularly to shareholders, that future research and innovation by the companies will not be hindered by patent disputes.
It is not clear which of the companies' patents are involved in the agreement (the statement simply refers to "a broad range of technologies and business areas"), but it would seem unlikely that any major patent disputes will arise between the two companies in the next ten years. It would seem likely, though, that Samsung will have access to the patents Google recently acquired from Motorola, with it being interesting to note that shortly after the agreement between Samsung and Google was announced, Google announced that they had sold the handset manufacturing part of the Motorola business to Lenovo, while keeping the majority of Motorola's patents for their own use. It seems likely that this sale to Lenovo paved the way for the agreement between Google and Samsung, probably because Samsung did not want to have the threat of a handset manufacturer.
What will be interesting to see is how the relationship will develop and how much freedom each party will have to develop their own products independently. For example, will Samsung try to develop a non-Android platform, as has been rumoured? And will Google continue to develop hardware? Google is rumoured to be developing a smart watch which could rival the Samsung Galaxy Gear, following the high profile launch of its Google Glass project, which itself could be helped by access to Samsung's device know how.
Another interesting aspect to the agreement is that both Google and Samsung are involved in current patent disputes with Apple, Samsung particularly so, with mediation talks set for March. The agreement between Google and Samsung is therefore a show of strength against Apple, at a time when the market seems to be shifting from Apple products to Android based products, as Apple's recent sales figures and associated fall in share price demonstrate. Apple, while probably not yet quaking in their boots, may be a little intimidated by this new alliance, which is likely to fight them both in the court room and in the shops.
Furthermore, does the agreement signal a general shift in this crowded market away from patent litigation and towards greater cooperation? Apple and HTC signed a patent licensing deal in November 2012, though this was to settle various global lawsuits rather than the proactive move from Google and Samsung, and Microsoft recently acquired Nokia to gain access to their smartphone technology. Even if formal agreements are not established, a number of the smartphone companies already work together at some level. For example, LG manufactured Google's Nexus 5 device while Asus made its Nexus 7, and Samsung manufacture and supply Apple with chips used in a number of Apple products.
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