Nokia goes to court in $1bn licence row

Tag : Nokia CDMA Phone

NOKIA, THE world's largest mobile phone maker, and wireless chipsupplier Qualcomm will go to court in the US tomorrow in hopes ofresolving a licensing fight that involves hundreds of millions ofdollars and has spawned lawsuits on three continents.
The case is based on a 1992 licensing agreement that allowed Nokiato use Qualcomm's patents in its phones. That licence expired inApril 2007, after Nokia paid Qualcomm $1 billion in fees andconsidered it to be paid up.
But Qualcomm disagreed, and is asking the Delaware Court ofChancery to rule that Nokia extended that agreement by continuingto buy its products.
Nokia says the cross-licensing agreement can only be extended inwriting. Nokia also maintains that Qualcomm failed to live up toobligations incurred when a standard setting body chose as thestandard Qualcomm's patents for CDMA - a digital radio system thatallows a cell-phone user to send voice, data and information suchas a dialled telephone number between mobile telephones and cellsites.
"We are seeking to prevent Qualcomm from imposing on Nokia thelicensing terms of an old agreement contrary to the terms of thatagreement and based on a vague allegation of use of patents thathave never been identified," said a Nokia spokeswoman. - (Reuters)
© 2008 The Irish Times
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times