Nokia And RIM Decide To Play Nice In The Sandbox With New Licensing Agreement
With a looming Blackberry ban in its future RIM has decided to play nice with Nokia in the form of a new licensing agreement. Both companies are withdrawing any current lawsuits against each other in the US, UK and Canada. Consequently, RIM will now have to cough up a “one-time payment and on-going payments” to Nokia in order to keep the peace. The exact amount that RIM has agreed to pay is unknown, but we’re sure their investors aren’t entirely thrilled at the financial structure of the deal. At least it curtailed an impending Blackberry product ban right?
For those of you who love a good press release to end your work week, we’ve got the full one included below.
Nokia and RIM enter into new patent license agreement
RIM payments to Nokia settle all legal actions between the companies
Espoo, Finland – Nokia has entered into a new patent license agreement with Research In Motion. The agreement will result in settlement of all existing patent litigation between the companies and withdrawal of pending actions in the US, UK and Canada related to a recent arbitration tribunal decision.
The financial structure of the agreement includes a one-time payment and on-going payments, all from RIM to Nokia. The specific terms of the agreement are confidential.
“We are very pleased to have resolved our patent licensing issues with RIM and reached this new agreement, while maintaining Nokia’s ability to protect our unique product differentiation,” said Paul Melin, chief intellectual property officer at Nokia. “This agreement demonstrates Nokia’s industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.”
During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 45 billion in research and development and built the wireless industry’s strongest and broadest IPR portfolio, with around 10,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of handheld device and mobile communications technologies, which is also demonstrated by Nokia’s strong patent position.
