Samsung Electronics and Google today furthered their cooperative partnership with a global patent cross-license agreement covering a broad range of technologies and business areas. The agreement covers the two companies' existing patents as well as those filed over the next 10 years.

With this agreement, Samsung and Google gain access to each other?s patent portfolios, paving the way for deeper collaboration on research and development of current and future products and technologies.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

"By working together on agreements like this, companies can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation," said Allen Lo, Deputy General Counsel for Patents at Google.

"This agreement with Google is highly significant for the technology industry," said Dr. Seungho Ahn, the Head of Samsung's Intellectual Property Center. "Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes."

The companies have been at the center of the smartphone patent wars. The majority of the litigation has been between Apple and Samsung, but also between various companies involved in making smartphones based on Google's Android software.