JURIST - Paper Chase: Apple to pay Nokia royalties in settlement of patent disputes

[JURIST] Finnish telecommunications company Nokia [corporate website] announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement [press release] with Apple [corporate website], settling all patent disputes between the parties and directing Apple to pay royalties to Nokia for the term of the agreement. Both companies agreed to withdraw all complaints filed with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) [official website] and end 46 ongoing patent infringement disputes in various countries around the world. Nokia's statement indicated that the agreement would have a positive financial impact on Nokia's prospectus for the second quarter of 2011. Analysts indicated that, following its recent victory, Nokia would likely target Google Android phone developers [Al Jazeera report] next.

Nokia and Apple have been embroiled in litigation marked by trading accusations of patent infringement. Nokia announced in March that it filed another complaint [press release; JURIST report] against Apple with the ITC in addition to a lawsuit filed in Delaware. In December, the litigation spread to Germany, the UK and the Netherlands where Nokia filed 13 patent infringement complaints [JURIST report] against Apple. Last May, Nokia filed a complaint [JURIST report] in the US District Court in the Western District for Wisconsin [official website] alleging that Apple iPad and iPhone 3G products infringe additional Nokia patents. Apple counter-sued last December, claiming Nokia had stolen 13 patents from the company.