Lately, it seems like we’re hearing about a new patent agreement every other day. There was Samsung and Google, then Google and Cisco. Now we’re hearing about HTC and Nokia’s agreement. Which it’s about time that HTC and Nokia agreed on a patent agreement, since they’ve been fighting it out for over a year and Nokia has been killing HTC in court.
Many of you may remember that in April of 2013, HTC was in violation of a microphone technology that’s exclusive to Nokia devices. Then again in December, a court in the UK ruled that the HTC One Mini could not be sold. In that same month, a German court banned the HTC One over patent issues as well.
According to their press release, Nokia and HTC have settled all pending patent litigation between both companies. They’ve entered into a patent and technology collaboration agreement. HTC will be making payments to Nokia and the collaboration will involve HTC’s LTE patent portfolio, further strengthening Nokia’s licensing offering. The two companies will also be exploring future technology collaboration opportunities. Right now Nokia and HTC are keeping the actual terms of the agreement confidential, which is normal in these circumstances.
The General Counsel of HTC, Grace Lei stated “Nokia has one of the most preeminent patent portfolios in the industry…as an industry pioneer in smartphones with a strong patent portfolio, HTC is pleased to come to this agreement, which will enable us to stay focused on innovation for consumers.”
It’s actually a breathe of fresh air seeing all of these patent agreements coming out. It’s definitely better than seeing Nokia suing HTC, or vice versa. We’ve seen enough of that between Samsung and Apple. If anything it makes the ecosystem even stronger. Especially when they sign patent agreements with Google. How many of you are happy to see Nokia and HTC sign this patent agreement?