Nokia/Qualcomm--new best friends

Nokia and Qualcomm have finally ended their long-winded and frequently acrimonious legal battle over patents. The two companies had legal actions pending in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy and China. The decision to end the row came after a German court had found against Qualcomm. The two companies have signed a fifteen-year agreement under which Qualcomm gives Nokia a licence to use its patents in Nokia handsets and in equipment manufactured by Nokia Siemens Networks. A number of standards are covered by the deal, including GSM, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, OFDM, WiMAX, LTE and other technologies. In addition Nokia has agreed to allow Qualcomm to include Nokia technology in its chips. The agreement includes an upfront payment to Qualcomm by Nokia as well future royalty payments. Nokia has also agreed to hand over some essential patents for WCDMA, GSM and OFDMA to Qualcomm but the terms of this arrangement are secret. Shares in both companies rose when the agreement was announced.

For more on this story:
- go to The Register and the Financial Times

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