Samsung and Google, who collaborated on the Android smartphone operating system, will be working together even more closely now that the two companies have signed a patent license deal.
The broad agreement on technology patents, which covers all existing patents for both companies, will strengthen the Samsung-Google alliance as they battle for market shares with Apple and others, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The deal will let Samsung and Google "reduce the potential for litigation and focus on innovation," Allen Lo, Google's deputy general counsel for patents, said in a statement quoted by WSJ.
While the agreement reinforces the alliance between the two companies, it doesn't transfer patent ownership and won't allow Samsung to use Google patents as protection in court.
The two companies haven't released much information about the deal, not specifying whether or not it only pertains to the Android OS. Besides existing patents, the agreement covers technology patents taken out during the next decade.
WSJ noted that the patent deal comes when Apple and Samsung are clashing in court over alleged patent infringement.
Android, which is backed by Samsung, is the biggest smartphone OS worldwide by shipments, powering around four out of every five smartphones.
In the patent litigation, Apple has accused Samsung of copying the look and feel of the iPhone and the iPad. A California court has requested that the two companies negotiate and attempt to settle the dispute themselves before the next round of trial scheduled for March.
Samsung has reached a separate agreement with Ericsson, a Swedish technology company, WSJ reported.
The two companies announced Monday that they have reached a multi-year deal on worldwide patent licenses related to cellular technologies. Neither has released details on the cross-licensing agreement.
Samsung's deal with Ericsson resolves litigations each company brought against the other, including lawsuits in a Texas federal court. Ericsson had attempted to keep out American imports of Samsung products, bringing complaints with the U.S. International Trade Commission.
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