This one is interesting.
As you may recall, Nokia and Apple previously sued each other for various patent infringements. As a matter of fact, virtually every major player in the smart phone industry has cross-sued each other.
It will be a while before the dust settles. But in this one case, it already has: Nokia and Apple, literally, have settled.
Nokia announced that it has signed a patent license agreement with Apple. The agreement will result in settlement of all patent litigation between the companies, including the withdrawal by Nokia and Apple of their respective complaints to the US International Trade Commission.
So who’s paying who? According to the release, Apple will make a one-time payment to Nokia and then paying “on-going royalties” for the right to use Nokia patented technologies in its own products.
Looks like Nokia won then.
"We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees," said Stephen Elop, president and chief executive officer of Nokia. "This settlement demonstrates Nokia's industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market."
Good for you guys.
Curiously, there’s no similar release on Apple’s press page. Maybe it’s just too early in the day.
