Espoo, Finland – Nokia and Research In Motion are dropping all of their patent disputes against each other following a settlement resulting from arbitration proceedings.
Under the settlement, Nokia entered into a new patent license agreement with RIM in which RIM is making a one-time payment and on-going payments to Nokia. Additional details were not revealed.
“The agreement will result in settlement of all existing patent litigation between the companies and withdrawal of pending actions in the U.S, U.K. and Canada related to a recent arbitration tribunal decision,” Nokia said.
Last month, HTC and Apple said they settled all their Android-related patent disputes around the world and have entered into a 10-year cross-licensing agreement for current and future patents. Both companies dropped all their current lawsuits against each other and declined to disclose additional details.
The announcement of the Nokia-RIM settlement precedes RIM’s planned Jan.30 launch of smartphones using its new OS 10 and follows the reporting of third-quarter financial results in which RIM posted a net income of $9 million following three consecutive quarterly net losses.
The net income, however, resulted from a one-time $226 million income-tax benefit. The company posted an operating loss of $230 million for the quarter, which ended Dec. 1.
For the third quarter of fiscal 2013, RIM revenues fell 47 percent from the year-ago quarter to $2.7 billion. The operating loss of $230 million compared to a year-ago operating income of $328 million.
Third-quarter net income of $9 million compares to a second-quarter net loss of $235 million, a first-quarter net loss of $519 million, and a fourth-quarter 2012 net loss of $125 million.
