Just when we were finally going to see LIVE coverage of a technology patent hearing, Nokia and Qualcomm have settled their lengthy legal battle, at least for the next 15 years.
Settling a licensing dispute that has spawned lawsuits in three countries and dragged on for more than 3 years, Nokia agreed to pay Qualcomm an upfront payment as well as royalties for use of some pretty basic mobile phone technology as well as some newer technologies, but Nokia said its royalty rate per phone has dropped. Exact numbers, however, were not announced.
Nokia has been arguing that its was paying too much for Qualcomm’s technology and that the technology it licenses to Qualcomm was undervalued; though settlement details were not released most reports estimate that Nokia came out ahead with this deal.
Nokia’s Chief Financial Officer Rick Simonson reportedly said the terms of the new agreement were very different from the two companies’ previous patent deals and that “there is no more disagreement, battle or conflict between two of the leaders in the industry, Nokia and Qualcomm, and I think that is terribly important.”
Along with the new licensing terms Nokia also agreed to sell some of its patents to Qualcomm, including ones for wireless technology standards WCDMA, GSM and OFDMA.