Nokia and Apple bury patent beef
You drop your lawyers and I'll drop mine
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Nokia and Apple have settled their patent dispute, with Cupertino handing over an undisclosed lump sum and agreeing to ongoing royalties.
The case has been rumbling on since October 2009, with Nokia taking the action to various courts in the US and Europe, and both companies making formal complaints to the US International Trade Commission. But now they have settled, apparently amicably, with Apple coughing up a lump sum to cover previous infractions and agreeing to pay an ongoing licence for Nokia's patents.
"The financial structure of the agreement consists of a one-time payment payable by Apple and ongoing royalties to be paid by Apple to Nokia for the term of the agreement," says the Nokia press release. "The specific terms of the contract are confidential."
In his blog patent analyst Florian Mueller suggests that this will open the way for Nokia to start extracting cash from the manufacturers of Android handsets, pointing out that they are almost certainly in breach of the Nokia patents for which Apple now holds a licence.
Mueller argues that Apple's payment will be more than a token fee, as Nokia wouldn't have backed down without a significant payoff. That's an argument which is borne out by Nokia's release, which continues: "The agreement is expected to have a positive impact on Nokia's recently revised outlook for the second quarter 2011." ®
COMMENTS
Yet more Florian worship
So Florian Muller says that Android is doomed, and the hacks just lap it up?
Florian has been shown to be wrong *many* more times than he has been right. And he has an ongoing agenda against Android.
Why are his attempts at astroturfing being reported as news? Florian is a lobbyist, not a journalist.
Please stop.
Vic.
Well...
Nokia has invested millions over the years so they are entitled to this settlement. Despite their ongoing disasterous decisions and dithering, let's not forget that mobile phones would not be where they are now it it were not for Nokia.
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