Apple vs Nokia: Apple to license Nokia patents

[akugami]

Apple and Nokia end their disputes

Apple and Nokia have withdrawn all of their complaints against each other and have settled out of court. Apple will pay a one time fee, along with royalties to Nokia. The exact terms of the one time payment and royalties were not disclosed.


Many news sources are claiming this is a victory for Nokia, and it is, but I just can't help feel that Apple may have been satisfied with the outcome. Similar to how Creative "won" 100 million from Apple but would have to give some of it back to Apple if they successfully sued other companies on the same patents that was in the Creative vs Apple suit.

Keep in mind that Apple was always going to pay for the patents. That was never in question. The question was how much. That was what Nokia and Apple have been arguing about for a long while now. It is what prompted Apple to bring a patent suit against Nokia.

Nokia hasn't been doing so well in recent years and rather than drag out a multi-year patent battle, they probably decided to lower their licensing fees. Something Apple has wanted all along. Nokia probably decided that rather than waste a ton of money on lawyers and years in court, just lower the cost and get it over with. The net gain (long battle with more money vs short battle and get less money) probably would have been about the same for Nokia anyways after lawyer fees. And while Apple would have shelled more money with a long protracted battle if they didn't get their way, they probably would have done it. Jobs is a vindictive SOB.

 

[Mopetar]

Probably makes sense. If Nokia is switching over to Windows Phone, they're not going to be using any of their own software that Apple was suing them over. Also, considering the low number of Maemo phones that actually shipped, even if Apple won, the damages would be hilariously low.

One down, several dozen more to go.

 

[Deeko]

Hard to know without hearing the actual figures, although I'm sure fanboys will come out of the woodwork on this one. Definitely a good thing for Nokia, getting licensing fees is always a good thing.

 

[YoungGun21]

Nokia needs to get back on track. They used to be a major player. Used to be.

 

[alent1234]

Probably makes sense. If Nokia is switching over to Windows Phone, they're not going to be using any of their own software that Apple was suing them over. Also, considering the low number of Maemo phones that actually shipped, even if Apple won, the damages would be hilariously low.

One down, several dozen more to go.

except that nokia and kodak actually did invent a lot of tech that other companies seem to have used without paying for it

 

[Oyeve]

Probably makes sense. If Nokia is switching over to Windows Phone, they're not going to be using any of their own software that Apple was suing them over. Also, considering the low number of Maemo phones that actually shipped, even if Apple won, the damages would be hilariously low.

One down, several dozen more to go.

And no one is sueing Microsoft. Wow.

 

[Mopetar]

I think the whole Apple/Nokia spat was over what Apple described as "unfair" licensing conditions, where either Nokia wanted more money than they charged other companies or for Apple to cross-license their own stuff. Apple was always going to end up paying Nokia some amount of Money, the question is just how much.

The Kodak patent has been described by most companies as pretty damned stupid and/or obvious, so I'm not sure if the suits have a whole lot of merit. I think that the courts initially ruled against Kodak, at least in the Apple and RIM suits, but they may have amended their suit or tried to run it further up the ranks to a higher court. These lawsuits can go on for years though, so who really knows.

 

[akugami]

I think the whole Apple/Nokia spat was over what Apple described as "unfair" licensing conditions, where either Nokia wanted more money than they charged other companies or for Apple to cross-license their own stuff. Apple was always going to end up paying Nokia some amount of Money, the question is just how much.

I lightly touched upon that in my post but that was exactly what the spat was about. Basically Nokia wanted to charge Apple a lot more to license certain patents than they charge others. Apple balked at the terms. Nokia sued Apple. Apple sued Nokia. There was never a question about the fact Nokia was going to get paid, it was just a question of how much. Apple under Steve Jobs can be a vindictive company and they have the cash to make this a long drawn out battle and Nokia is under a lot of pressure to perform better.

Seems like it's going to be a large lump sum in the hundreds of millions to cover five years of Apple iPhone sales along with continuing royalties for future sales. Exact terms remain a mystery so we don't really know who won. It's all speculation at this point. It's highly likely the licensing fees are much lower than what Nokia wanted and close to what Nokia charges others. Considering the huge influx of cash to Nokia, I can't say they lost. But at the same time, I doubt Apple paid much more than the industry standard to license those patents so I can't really say they lost. I'd chalk this one up to a fair deal that should never have gone to the courts.

The Kodak patent has been described by most companies as pretty damned stupid and/or obvious, so I'm not sure if the suits have a whole lot of merit. I think that the courts initially ruled against Kodak, at least in the Apple and RIM suits, but they may have amended their suit or tried to run it further up the ranks to a higher court. These lawsuits can go on for years though, so who really knows.

I won't comment on the Kodak patents. I will say Kodak has been an innovative company and have invented a lot of stuff. I'll also agree that these corporate lawsuits can last years. And that's probably what prompted the end to the Nokia vs Apple lawsuits.

Nokia's short term outlook isn't so hot and current management is under a lot of pressure. Nokia may have likely won and gotten higher royalty fees from Apple but that would be years down the line. Years that the current upper management does not have. They could be fired long before the conclusion of the Nokia vs Apple case. The alternative is to settle with Apple, accept lower (but not below what they charge the rest of the industry) royalties, make the short term look good with a large influx of cash from Apple and save their own asses. If I was Nokia management, there's no question what I'd do. Save my own ass.