RIM pays to settle patent dispute with Nokia
(01-03 18:24)
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) paid rival Nokia 50 million euros (HK$511 million) to settle a patent dispute, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing US regulatory filings.
Analysts believe RIM will also have to pay the Finnish company a licence fee of between US$2 and US$5 for each handset sold using Nokia technology, the newspaper wrote, AFP reports.
Last month, Nokia withdrew all its lawsuits against RIM after reaching an agreement on patents relating to WLAN local area network technology, but said the terms of the deal were confidential.
However, in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Canadian company revealed the size of the lump sum settlement.
"The financial structure of the agreement includes a lump sum 50 euro million one-time payment, which has been recorded in the company's consolidated statement of operations in the third quarter,'' it said in a document published on the agency's website.
The conflict arose from different interpretations of which technologies were covered by a 2003 licensing deal that allows RIM to use Nokia's patented technology.
Nokia dominated the international mobile market for more than a decade but has of late lagged behind smartphone rivals such as Apple and Samsung, and credit rating agencies have downgraded the company due to concerns over its profitability and its cash position
But the Espoo-based company still holds patents to over 10,000 types of technology after having invested approximately 45 billion euros in research and development over the past two decades.
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