A legal battle that spanned three continents and involved two of the 
biggest names in the mobile realm came to an end yesterday with both sides dropping all complaints and cross-complaints. Nokia, the world’s largest handset maker, and Qualcomm, the world’s largest maker of cell phone chips, reached an agreement that should quiet the upheaval that threatened to ripple throughout the mobile world.
Neither side has commented on the agreement. Nokia has a 15-year licensing deal that gives the company rights to many of Qualcomm’s patents. Nokia will pay an upfront sum and ongoing royalties to use chips developed by Qualcomm.
The two companies signed their first agreement in 1992 and renewed it in 2001 but it expired in April of 2007. The new contract includes technologies that didn’t exist or were in their infancies when the two companies entered into a business relationship.
The news has calmed the fears that carriers and equipment makers had over the lawsuit. A long legal battle threatened to interfere with other company’s ability to deliver products and services to a world hungry for mobile technology.