Qualcomm and Nokia cosy up after patents - for a change

It looks like Qualcomm and Nokia are preparing to bury the hatchet, according to reports. The two have been engaged in a long-running fight over patent claims, after a licensing agreement between them lapsed last April. Since then, the pair have filed lawsuit after lawsuit in several European countries as well as the US.

Now, it seems, the pair have decided on a truce and agreed not only to halt the ongoing patent litigation but not to file any more lawsuits while the existing claims are reviewed by a Delaware court. Their lawyers must be very disappointed.

Everyone else, however, is likely to be more than happy. While I’m obviously in no position to comment on the validity or otherwise of the patent infringement cases, these two companies need each other to succeed: the world’s biggest phone maker needs chips, the world’s biggest chipmaker needs phones to put them in. Hopefully we’ll see more calm from the two in future.