Qualcomm and MediaTek Announce Patent Agreement

Qualcomm Incorporated, the leading developer of innovative wireless technologies, products and services, and MediaTek, Inc., a leading company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, announced on Thursday the entering into a broad patent arrangement. According to the two companies, the agreement is related to their patent portfolios, including essential solutions in the CDMA and WCDMA areas, and also related to all integrated circuit products, such as CDMA and WCDMA products.

While the exact terms of the deal are still confidential, there are some pieces of information that have been unveiled at the moment. According to the agreement, MediaTek's customers won't receive rights on Qualcomm's patents, which means they will have to contact Qualcomm for obtaining licenses for any of its patents. At the same time, Qualcomm's customers won't receive rights on MediaTek's patents, thus having to obtain separate licenses for them from this company.

As many of you might already know, Qualcomm Incorporated is one of the leading developers of innovative digital wireless communications products and services which are based on advanced technologies like CDMA. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and is one of the 2009 FORTUNE 500 companies, and some of you might have heard already that it is expected to become the leading 4G patent holder in the world.

As for MediaTek Inc., the company is a worldwide leading fabless semiconductor company, focused on wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions. MediaTek is a pioneer in the SOC system solutions segment, aimed at wireless telecoms, high-definition TV, optical storage, and other more. Here's how the company describes itself: “Founded in 1997 and listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange under the code "2454," MediaTek is headquartered in Taiwan and has sales and research subsidiaries in Mainland China, Singapore, India, U.S., Japan, Korea, Denmark and England.”

Additional details on the two companies, as well as on the new patent arrangement between them, are available on their websites, here for Qualcomm, and here for MediaTek.