Late last year, Nokia sued Apple for alleged patent infringement and it looked like another big legal battle could be on the horizon. However, that won’t be the case.
Apple and Nokia have announced that they’ve settled all litigation and agreed to a multi-year patent license. Details of the deal are confidential, but Nokia will provide network infrastructure products and services to Apple, while Apple will resume offering Nokia health products (formerly under the Withings brand) in Apple stores. The two companies will also explore future health-related collaborations.
Additionally, Nokia is receiving an upfront cash payment from Apple, with more revenues to follow during the term of the agreement.
Here’s what Maria Varsellona, Nokia’s Chief Legal Officer, had to say about this deal:
“This is a meaningful agreement between Nokia and Apple. It moves our relationship with Apple from being adversaries in court to business partners working for the benefit of our customers.”
And here’s Apple COO Jeff Williams:
“We are pleased with this resolution of our dispute and we look forward to expanding our business relationship with Nokia.”
Nokia filed its lawsuit against Apple in December 2016, alleging that Apple violated 32 patents relating to displays, UI, antennas, chipsets, software, and video encoding. Apple then filed a complaint against Nokia, claiming that Nokia changed its stance on FRAND licensing for standard-essential patents and worked to make royalty demands and infringement lawsuits to get around its FRAND licensing terms.