The deal covers patents currently owned by the companies, as well as any filed in the next 10 years, the companies said in a release. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The companies said the deal "would lead to deeper collaboration on research and development of current and future projects."
"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, in a statement.
Samsungs Seungho Ahn, head of the companys intellectual property center, said the deal showed "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, though more as allies than foes. The majority of the litigation - which has sprawled across three continents, has been between Apple and the various companies involved in making smartphones based on Googles Android software, including Samsung and Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility.
Notably, Qualcomm last week said it had acquired patents once owned by smartphone maker Palm from Hewlett-Packard for an undisclosed amount.
Qualcomm says the purchase covers 1,400 U.S. patents and about 1,000 more foreign patients for the companys mobile computing technology.
Hewlett-Packard Co. paid $1 billion for Palm in 2010 as part of its first foray into tablet computers and smartphones, which ran on Palms operating system. The effort flopped and HP now sells tablets using Google Inc.s Android and a recently introduced version of Microsoft Corp.s Windows. Palo Alto, California-based HP hasnt re-entered the smartphone market.
( Written with agency inputs )
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