The
disputes centre on patents held by Qualcomm for technology used in
chips in mobile devices such as telephones.
Nokia has for some years paid a licensing fee to Qualcomm under
the deal which has just expired. The two companies have not managed
to agree a replacement deal.
The just-expired agreement involved the cross-licensing of
technology between Qualcomm and Nokia. Nokia has just made a $20
million payment to Qualcomm to cover the second quarter of this
year, but Qualcomm has denounced the action, saying that it is not
for Nokia to set prices for its intellectual property.
Qualcomm has asked for the American Arbitration Association to
arbitrate the dispute and has demanded that Nokia continue to pay
it patent licence fees.
In 2005 Nokia and others complained to the European Commission
about Qualcomm's behaviour over standardisation for third
generation (3G) mobile phone networks. Nokia said that Qualcomm
agreed that it would not over-charge for licences to its technology
if it was incorporated into industry-wide standards.
Once those standards were set, argued Nokia, Qualcomm levied
charges that were excessive and disproportionate. That case is
ongoing.
A week later Qualcomm filed a suit in the US alleging that Nokia
infringed 11 of its patents. Nokia filed another suit in Europe in
recent weeks arguing that the patents on which Qualcomm's cases
rest have expired in Europe.
Nokia uses chips from Texas Instruments which, in turn, use
technology claimed as its own by Qualcomm. Nokia claims that the
Qualcomm patents have expired.
