Nokia settles 3G patent dispute

 

Gallery

By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 3 Jul 2008 at 07:26

Nokia and the wireless technology company InterDigital have settled their long-running legal battle over 3G mobile phone patents.

Nokia first sued InterDigital in 2005, with the handset manufacturer claiming in the High Court that several of the company's patents relating to UMTS 3G were unnecessary to the technology.

Before this case was resolved InterDigital counter-sued a year later, claiming the same thing of Nokia's 3G patents.

The case was further complicated in 2007 when some of the disputed patents belonging to Nokia were transferred to Nokia Siemens, dragging a third company into the dispute.

Although the case has now been settled in the UK courts, the struggle continues in the US where a complaint was made to the US International Trade Commission over unfair trade practices relating to the patents.

No financial details of the settlement have been revealed, but InterDigital is also still involved in a similar dispute with Samsung.

Both Nokia and Samsung were sued last year by the Washington Research Foundation for infringing on a patent for wireless Bluetooth technology. That case remains unresolved.