Apple, Nokia Settle Patent Disputes and Enter Collaboration

Finland's Nokia said on Tuesday it has settled its patent dispute with Apple and also signed a business collaboration deal with the US company. Nokia announced the two companies have "settled all litigation related to their intellectual property dispute and agreed a multi-year patent licence."

Nokia said it would receive an up-front cash payment and additional revenues from Apple, but did not specify the details of the patent deal.

"While details of the agreement remain confidential, Nokia will receive an up-front cash payment from Apple, with additional revenues during the term of the agreement. [...] Due to the up-front cash payment from Apple, Nokia intends to provide a comprehensive update of its capital structure optimization program in conjunction with its third quarter 2017 results," the company said in a statement.

Revenues from the agreement, as well as a non-recurring catch-up revenue, will start running from this quarter, Nokia said.

Under the business agreement, Nokia said it would provide network infrastructure products and services to Apple while Apple would resume carrying Nokia's digital health products in its retail and online stores.

"This is a meaningful agreement between Nokia and Apple," said Maria Varsellona, Chief Legal Officer at Nokia, responsible for Nokia's patent licensing business. "It moves our relationship with Apple from being adversaries in court to business partners working for the benefit of our customers."

"We are pleased with this resolution of our dispute and we look forward to expanding our business relationship with Nokia," said Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer.

"This agreement will strengthen our collaboration," said Basil Alwan, President of Nokia's IP/Optical Networks business. "We look forward to supporting Apple."

Written with inputs from Reuters