Apple reportedly paid LG Electronics a fee for a long-term patent licensing agreement

LG Electronics received a one-time payment from two companies in April for patent licensing but did not reveal their identities. According to industry sources, LG Electronics received KRW 890 billion ($662.4 million) from two companies, of which 80% was paid by Apple and the remaining 20% was paid by an unidentified company.

LG Electronics and Apple have reportedly entered a long-term patent licensing agreement, according to a report from Bloomberg. Such agreements are common practices for companies involved in multi-national conglomerates. The patents may have likely included “many standard essential patents”.

Since LG has exited the smartphone business, its patent licensing obligations to Apple have changed, thus the payment made from Apple to compensate for the remainder of a previously arranged patent license agreement.

The Electronic writes, “LG has multiple standard essential patents and will likely seek an agreement with Samsung as well.” While LG may have exited the smartphone business, its other affiliates such as LG Innotek and LG Display will continue to supply camera modules and displays, respectively, to the iPhone maker.