Daimler, Nokia end legal dispute by signing patent licensing agreement

German carmaker Daimler and Finnish telecommunication company Nokia ended a long-lasting legal dispute after signing a patent licensing agreement, the companies jointly announced on Tuesday.

According to the agreement, Nokia would commercially license its mobile telecommunications technology to Daimler. The parties agreed to "settle all pending litigation," including a complaint by Daimler to the European Commission.

"We welcome the settlement - from an economic point of view and because we avoid lengthy juridical disputes," a Daimler spokesperson told Xinhua. The terms of the agreement, including the patent fees paid by Daimler, remained confidential.

Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) for 5G were at the heart of the legal dispute. Daimler had demanded that the technology should be made available to all suppliers on fair terms and without discrimination.

Nokia on the other hand argued that it should be free to decide at what level and to whom licenses should be granted, both directly to carmakers as well as to their supplier companies. Both Nokia and Daimler had filed numerous lawsuits against each other over the issue in recent years.

Source：Xinhua

Editor：IPRdaily-Vapor