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Nokia, Apple Settle Patent Disputes

Espoo, Finland
– Nokia and Apple have resolved their patent disputes, but Apple’s disputes
with Motorola, Samsung and HTC are still outstanding.

In the
Nokia-Apple settlement, Nokia appears to be the winner. Apple will make a
one-time payment to Nokia as well as pay ongoing royalties to Nokia for the
term of the agreement. The term and other details were called confidential.

Both companies
will also drop all patent litigation against each other and will withdraw their
respective complaints before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

The agreement,
Nokia said, is expected to have a positive financial impact on the company’s recently
revised second-quarter outlook, which forecasts around break-even operating
margin for Nokia’s devices and services business.

The settlement
“enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile
communications market,” said Stephen Elop, Nokia president/CEO.

Nokia

started
the fight

in October 2009 when it filed a patent-infringement lawsuit
against Apple in Federal District Court in Delaware, contending all iPhones,
from the first ones shipped in 2007, infringe on 10 Nokia patents. Apple
countersued, and Nokia counterpunched with a complaint to the ITC that “virtually
all” of Apple’s cellphones, iPods and computers infringe on Nokia patents.
Nokia asked the ITC to bar the importation of the infringing Apple products.

Earlier this year,

Apple
filed a lawsuit

in a California federal court against Samsung, alleging the
Korean electronics manufacturers’ Galaxy S smartphones and its Galaxy Tab knock off the look and feel of
Apple’s competing products.

Samsung fired back at Apple,
filing lawsuits in overseas courts alleging that Apple violated 10 of its
smartphone and computer patents.

In early 2010,
Apple filed twin

lawsuits
against HTC

for allegedly infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone’s
“user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.” Suits were
filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District
Court in Delaware.

 Last October, Motorola Mobility launched three
patent suits against Apple over the same patents. Apple countersued.

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