The patent infringement litigation between HTC and Nokia was settled today when both companies announced that HTC had agreed to a licensing Nokia’s patents. The agreement between the two companies is characterized as collaboration since HTC is bringing its LTE patent portfolio to the table as well. Unfortunately, Nokia still comes out on top since HTC will be making payments to Nokia for the use of its patents.
All current and pending litigation between the two companies has been dropped due to the patent licensing agreement between HTC and Nokia. With licensing agreements in place to use patents from Apple and Nokia, HTC should not be able to focus better on making the most innovative smartphones rather than having its engineers waste time to find workarounds.
HTC AND NOKIA SIGNED A PATENT AND TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION AGREEMENT
All Patent litigation between the companies dismissedTaipei, Taiwan, February 7, 2014 — Nokia and HTC have settled all pending patent litigation between them, and entered into a patent and technology collaboration agreement. HTC will make payments to Nokia and the collaboration will involve HTC’s LTE patent portfolio, further strengthening Nokia’s licensing offering. The companies will also explore future technology collaboration opportunities. The full terms of the agreement are confidential.
“We are very pleased to have reached a settlement and collaboration agreement with HTC, which is a long standing licensee for Nokia’s standards essential patents,” said Paul Melin, chief intellectual property officer at Nokia. “This agreement validates Nokia’s implementation patents and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities.“
“Nokia has one of the most preeminent patent portfolios in the industry.” said Grace Lei, General Counsel of HTC. “As an industry pioneer in smartphones with a strong patent portfolio, HTC is pleased to come to this agreement, which will enable us to stay focused on innovation for consumers.”
