Industryweek 3423 Rim

RIM Settles Patent Dispute with Nokia

Jan. 3, 2013
Struggling BlackBerry maker Research in Motion pays rival Nokia $65.8 million to settle a patent dispute.

HELSINKI -- BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) paid rival Nokia 50 million euros (US$65.8 million) to settle a patent dispute, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing U.S. regulatory filings.

Analysts believe RIM will also have to pay the Finnish company a license fee of between $2 and $5 for each handset sold using Nokia technology, the newspaper wrote.

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 U.S. 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 (US$60 billion) in research and development over the past two decades.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

Why DataOps may be the key to unlocking the full potential of digital transformation

Nov. 3, 2023
Read the 2023 market survey conducted by IndustryWeek

The Ultimate Ecommerce Excellence Checklist

Oct. 2, 2023
Scaling ecommerce operations is no easy task when your business is moving fast. Assess your current ecommerce maturity level and set optimization priorities with this practical...

Gain a competitive edge with real-world lessons on private 5G networks

Nov. 16, 2023
The use of private networks in manufacturing applications is rapidly growing. In this paper, we present valuable insights and lessons learned from the field with the goal of enhancing...

How Digital Twin Technology is Empowering Manufacturers

Sept. 27, 2023
This FAQ delves into why this technology offers business value and considerations toward implementation.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!