By Ryan Knutson And Angela Chen 

Google Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. struck a long-term patent cross-license agreement to reduce the risk of future patent lawsuits, the latest in a string of deals that signal a slowdown after years of aggressive patent wars.

The deal effectively bars the companies from suing each other over any of the thousands of patents the companies currently own or acquire in the next five years. It also protects the companies if either sells a patent to another company, and that company attempts a lawsuit.

"This cross license allows both companies to focus on delivering great products and services to consumers around the world," said Kirk Dailey, Google's head of patent transactions.

The Web-search company, which had troubles with patent litigation in the past, has also reached far-reaching patent cross-licensing agreements this year with both Samsung Electronics Co., Cisco Systems Inc. and LG Electronics Inc.

Google has also lobbied hard for patent overhaul in Washington to limit so-called patent trolls from amassing large pools of intellectual property and suing or threatening to sue other operating companies for infringing. Michelle Lee, a former patent lawyer at Google, became director of the U.S. government's Patent and Trademark Office in October.

Google and Verizon worked on the deal for about a year. Both companies said they are looking to strike deals with other tech companies. Google said it is in talks with other network providers. The companies declined to say whether any monetary payments were involved in the deal.

Technology companies have become used to patent litigation in recent years. The biggest players have sued and countersued in the U.S. and elsewhere, accusing each other of stealing their inventions.

Facing patent lawsuits for many of its services, including its Android mobile-device operating system, Google responded by purchasing a large number of patents for itself, including some patents from International Business Machines Corp. in 2011. It also acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012 and then sold it to Lenovo Group Inc. earlier this year while keeping Motorola's patents.

Meanwhile, in May, Google and Apple Inc. agreed to drop all lawsuits between them, including one that covers Apple's patent litigation with Google's Motorola unit. Motorola sued Apple for patent infringement in 2010, and Apple had countersued.

While the agreement doesn't technically give the companies access to each other's patents, it does give them more comfort to innovate in those areas without the fear of litigation. The deal is part of a larger initiative inside Google to "provide freedom of action so engineers can produce," said Google's Mr. Daily.

Randal Milch, Verizon's general counsel, said the deal will help reduce the supply of patents available to trolls to use in lawsuits. "In high-tech industries like ours, the patent system can be exploited to get in the way of innovation," he said.

Verizon and Google have a long history of working together. The companies worked closely to popularize Android as a counter to Apple's iPhone. Google and Verizon also teamed up in 2010 to propose an alternative net neutrality plan to what the Federal Communications Commission was working on. The plan was never adopted.

Alistair Barr and

Rolfe Winkler

contributed to this article.

Write to Ryan Knutson at ryan.knutson@wsj.com and Angela Chen at angela.chen@dowjones.com

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