About $2 billion. That’s the amount Apple recently paid Nokia (News - Alert) to settle the companies’ patent dispute.
This detail came to light recently when Nokia reported its quarterly earnings.
Nokia CFO Kristian Pullola during the earnings call commented: “Related to only the Apple (News - Alert) litigation, we had expected to spend at a run rate of approximately 100 million euros annually, given the agreement, we should not see any Apple-related litigation costs in Q3, and going forward.”
“Second, we got a substantial upfront cash payment of 1.7 billion euros from Apple, strengthening further our cash position,” Pullola continued. “As said earlier, our plan is to provide more details on the intended use of cash in conjunction with our Q3 earnings.”
The patent dispute between Apple and Nokia cut both ways. It involved Apple filing an antitrust suit against Nokia contractor Patent Assertion Entities, saying that Nokia and PAE were involved in an illegal patent transfer scheme to help counteract the losses Nokia was experiencing from its failing cell phone business, according to reports. Around the same time, Nokia sued Apple directly in Europe and the U.S., saying the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant was infringing on Nokia patents related to display, software, user interface, and video coding.
The dispute was settled in May. But only when Nokia discussed its quarterly earnings did the upfront cash payment amount come to light.
Reports also noted that Nokia will not receive $2 billion every quarter as part of the deal. But Nokiamob in May reported that the settlement will involve Apple paying royalties for Nokia patents and that it will continue to sell Nokia health products from the former Withings business.
“Nokia is very competent when it comes to monetizing its patents,” according to a Seeking Alpha story on the settlement. “Even mighty Apple, which is suing Qualcomm (News - Alert) for excessive patent licensing fees, had to bow down and pay 1.7 billion Euros to Nokia.”