Nokia Pays Qualcomm

Nokia just announced that it has paid Qualcomm USD 20 million for patent licenses covering the second quarter 2007. Nokia and Qualcomm have had patent license agreements since 1992 and Nokia's obligations to pay license fees under the old agreements partially expire on April 9, 2007. The payment announced this week does not extend, and is not related to the old agreement. It is rather based on the licenses that Qualcomm has agreed to and provided through the European Telecommunication Standardization Institute.

"As we continue to negotiate the new cross-license agreement, Nokia views this payment as fair and reasonable compensation for the use of relevant Qualcomm essential patents in Nokia UMTS handsets during the second quarter of 2007. Nokia believes that Qualcomm's patent portfolio is concentrated in the United States, and that it has few or no alleged UMTS patents in many of the countries in which Nokia has substantial UMTS handset sales. When Qualcomm's early patents become paid-up and royalty-free on April 9, 2007 Qualcomm's share of all patents relevant to Nokia UMTS handsets will significantly decrease", said Rick Simonson, chief financial officer, Nokia. "It is important to note that as of April 9, 2007, Qualcomm's entire chipset business becomes exposed to Nokia's extensive GSM, WCDMA and CDMA patent portfolios and Nokia will use all rights from those portfolios when defending itself against any new Qualcomm litigation", Simonson concluded.

Nokia intends to make similar payments in the future and will announce such payments when they are made.

Nokia has, until 2007, paid less than 3 per cent cumulative license fees under all of its patent license agreements involving WCDMA products.