LG Electronics inks Wi-Fi patent licensing agreement with Amazon

LG Electronics said Thursday it has signed an agreement with Amazon.com to grant the U.S. e-commerce giant a license to use its Wi-Fi technologies. The Korean tech giant said the agreement will allow Amazon to use LG's Wi-Fi standard-essential patents for the U.S. company's artificial intelligence (AI) speaker Alexa, along with other services. Standard-essential patents refer to major technologies that are vital in producing standardized products. "LG Electronics is currently under license negotiations with multiple global companies other than Amazon for standard-essential patents related to Wi-Fi technology," the company said in a release. LG Electronics said it had held 97,880 registered patents at home and abroad as of June, with around half of them being standard-essential patents. The company said it will continue efforts to secure patents for cutting-edge technologies in areas including AI, quantum computing and sixth-generation networks.