Apple and Nokia are friends again

Apple and Nokia are no longer locked in a legal duel.
 By 
Colin Daileda
 on 
Apple and Nokia are friends again
A potential customer inspects a red iPhone 7. Credit: Sipa Asia/REX/Shutterstock

Apple and Nokia are no longer locked in a legal duel.

The two companies announced on Tuesday that they "settled all litigation related to their intellectual property dispute and agreed [to] a multi-year patent license."

The legal suit in question is from December 2016, when Nokia sued Apple in the United States and Germany, alleging 32 types of patent infringement. Nokia claimed Apple used a lot of technology in the iPhone that Nokia developed, such as user interfaces and mobile device displays.

Now, thanks to the settlement, Nokia will get a chunk of cash from Apple as well as additional revenue as the agreement runs its course. Also, Nokia "digital health products" will pop up in Apple stores, and the two are trying to figure out how to work together on "digital health initiatives."

“This is a meaningful agreement between Nokia and Apple,” Maria Varsellona, Nokia's chief legal officer, said in a statement posted online. “It moves our relationship with Apple from being adversaries in court to business partners working for the benefit of our customers.”

The settlement isn't the first time Apple and Nokia have discussed patents. Apple licensed Nokia patents in 2011, but the company turned down licensing offers from Nokia in subsequent years. Even after Nokia's licensing offers were rejected, Nokia says many Apple products used Nokia's "patented inventions."

After six months of battle, the companies ended a fight that could have been much uglier.

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Colin Daileda

Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.

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