RIM agrees to pay Nokia for patent licenses

RIM has agreed to a patent licensing agreement with Nokia that includes a one-off fee and on-going payments "all from RIM to Nokia." As part of the agreement, the two companies will drop all current patent litigation. "We are very pleased to have resolved our patent licensing issues with RIM," says Nokia, "this agreement demonstrates Nokia’s industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market." The precise financial terms of the agreement were not made public, but the terms are similar to those agreed between Nokia and Apple last year.

The two companies have had numerous legal spats over the years, but agreed to cross-license essential patents almost a decade ago. RIM was recently found to be in breach of contract by an arbitration tribunal, a decision that put the Canadian manufacturer on extremely shaky ground. Nokia swiftly pursued action against RIM on both sides of the Atlantic, applying pressure that likely led to today's agreement. The Finnish company will press on with litigation against Viewsonic and HTC. RIM has yet to comment on Nokia's announcement.