Yesterday Samsung's mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun stated that without Samsung-owned wireless patents, it's impossible for Apple to produce the iPhone. Yet within the last 24 hours, another Korean news source now admits that Apple has been found to actually be ahead of Samsung in the number of registered US patents directly related to LTE. An American intellectual property consulting firm by the name of TechIPm analyzed the LTE patents along with ETN. The results were surprising.
The LTE Patent Breakdown
According to ETN's findings, Samsung and Apple owned 84 and 91 patents directly related to LTE telephony, respectively. The number of the patents that can immediately be used in lawsuits was 44 vs. 48.
Samsung outdid Apple in terms of the number of standard patents (17 vs. 2) and communication protocol patents (19 vs. 14).
Meanwhile, Apple surpassed Samsung when it comes to modem-related patents (77 vs. 65) thanks to its acquisition of Nortel, which had a quantity of patents related to base station equipment. 90% of Apple's LTE patents were acquired by transfer from Nortel and the other 10% from Freescale Semiconductor.
Related Report: Apple Continues to Build their Nortel Patent Arsenal
