Nokia and Blackberry-maker RIM settle over patents

5:48 pm | Friday, December 21st, 2012

AP PHOTO/LEHTIKUVA, JUSSI NUKARI

HELSINKI—Finnish mobile giant Nokia said on Friday it was withdrawing all its lawsuits against Blackberry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) after reaching an agreement on patent licensing.

Last month Nokia filed lawsuits in the United States, Britain and Canada against RIM claiming it had breached an agreement on using Nokia patents on WLAN local area network technology.

“We are very pleased to have resolved our patent licensing issues with RIM and reached this new agreement, while maintaining Nokia’s ability to protect our unique product differentiation,” said Paul Melin, chief intellectual property officer at Nokia, in a statement.

The Finnish company said the agreement includes a one-time payment and on-going payments, all from RIM to Nokia, with the specific terms confidential.

The dispute arose from different interpretations of which technologies were covered by a 2003 licensing deal that allows RIM to use Nokia’s patented technology.

RIM had sought arbitration in 2011 to get the deal modified, but a Swedish court ruled in November it was in breach of contract and could not use the technology without reaching an agreement with Nokia.

Nokia may have lost the title as the top-selling mobile phone maker, but the Finnish company holds patents to over 10,000 types of technology after having invested approximately 45 billion euros ($60 billion) in research and development over the past two decades.

RIM has also seen its market share eroded by competition from Apple’s iPhone and devices powered by Google’s Android system

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Tags: Blackberry , Lawsuit , Nokia , patent

jurbinsky77

RIM should have fired its employees in its Patent Department and all its’ so-called “design engineers” in Waterloo.

You have the notion that RIM encourages suggestions and product proposals but when you submit one, the Patent Department would send you an email stating that they are not able to decide in adopting your proposal but it does not mean that they will not revisit that proposal in the future.

I remember a couple in one of my proposals; user’s capability to configure the Blackberry as GPS tracker. Imagine Moms can monitor their children real-time. Or in text mode, a group of say 4 BBs configured properly can have its own broadcast network, like that of the SEAL.

Another is the arrangement with product component manufacturers to allow Blackberry to communicate with their products. Companies like Rockwell can allow a Blackberry to receive SNMP signals and therefore maintaining oil pipeline, monitoring nuclear plants or even impoundment dams, etc. would have a “couple of eyes” more on the watch.

Still another was provisioning of extension for the BB to be heart, pulse and other vital signs monitoring device and also as pedometer.

RIM’s Patent Dept employees are lazy and inadequate for the job.

RIM has Research Group in the US, Germany and UK. But the money spent on those units are useless. They should have been fired long ago.

RIM should re-adjust its vision and company objectives. Instead of focusing on Blackberry’s corporate use, it should be desirable as a consumer good, too. Look how far has Samsung has gone and review the direction taken by Apple. From the academe and office cubicles, Apple re-directed more than half of its efforts to consumer and pop culture.
tomexsans

i’ll still get a nokia

Nokia and Blackberry-maker RIM settle over patents

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