Nokia Rakes In Cash From Patents, Helped by Samsung Pact
February 01 2016 - 4:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Dominic Chopping
Nokia Corp. expects to gain more than a billion dollars in cash
from its intellectual-property portfolio in the next three years,
including the proceeds from a patent pact with Samsung Electronics
Co. signed more than two years ago.
The Finnish telecom-equipment maker said on Monday that an
arbitration panel has ruled on how much the South Korean company
has to pay as part of their 2013 licensing agreement, but didn't
disclose the sum itself.
Nokia said that it expects to receive at least EUR1.3 billion
($1.4 billion) in cash between 2016 and 2018 related to settled and
continuing arbitration regarding its intellectual property,
including the Samsung award.
"The use of independent arbitration to resolve differences in
patent cases is a recognized best practice, and we welcome the
additional compensation payable to Nokia under the extended
agreement," said Nokia Technologies President Ramzi Haidamus.
The Finnish and South Korean companies agreed in November 2013
to a new licensing agreement, extending a previous deal through
2018 that allows them to use each other's patents, thereby
lessening the likelihood of lawsuits and related costs.
Nokia, which agreed to sell its mobile handset business to
Microsoft Corp. in 2013, was set to receive more compensation from
the South Korean company than it received from the previous deal,
but the companies agreed that the exact sum would be decided by
arbitration.
The deal follows the resolution of a patent dispute between
Ericsson AB and Apple Inc. which reached an out-of-court settlement
in December. Apple agree to pay an undisclosed amount plus
continuing royalties over seven years to use some of the Swedish
company's patents.
Relationships in the telecommunications sector are complex,
where standardization of technologies and increased penetration of
smartphones rely on sharing research and development globally. But
sharing such standards has led to complaints and legal proceedings
between network manufacturers and smartphone makers over the fair
use of some technologies. Samsung and Microsoft agreed to end a
contract dispute a year ago.
Nokia has put its investment in research and development between
1984 and 2014 at more than EUR50 billion, with Nokia Technologies
managing a portfolio of 30,000 individual patents and patent
applications.
Nokia Technologies should report net revenue of around EUR400
million in the fourth quarter of last year and EUR1.02 billion for
the full year, Nokia said on Monday.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 01, 2016 03:51 ET (08:51 GMT)
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