In what looks like a big news for Nokia’s “Advanced technology” business, Samsung has extended patent licensing agreement with Nokia for next 5 years. The current licensing agreement is going to expire at the end of 2013 and Samsung is going to pay additional compensation to Nokia for the period from 1st January 2014.
Nokia announced that Samsung has extended a patent license agreement between Nokia and Samsung for five years. The agreement would have expired at the end of 2013. According to the agreement, Samsung will pay additional compensation to Nokia for the period commencing from January 1, 2014 onwards, and the amount of such compensation shall be finally settled in a binding arbitration which is expected to be concluded during 2015.
“This extension and agreement to arbitrate represent a hallmark of constructive resolution of licensing disputes, and are expected to save significant transaction costs for both parties”, said Paul Melin, Chief Intellectual Property Officer of Nokia.
Nokia will retain its industry-leading patent portfolio following the proposed transaction to sell substantially all of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft and sees further opportunity to create value by investing in innovation, and by actively managing its patent portfolio and licensing activities.
As is clear from this press release, Nokia will be more aggressive towards monetizing its patent portfolio once Devices and Services sales to MS concludes.
Thanks Tom for the Tip. Cheers!!
