Apple’s Licensing Deal With Nokia Is Only Good Until End Of 2016

Back in 2011, Apple and Nokia managed to arrive at an agreement in which Apple would pay Nokia a huge sum, followed by ongoing royalties for use of their patents. Naturally the licensing deal is not indefinite but the exact details remained a secret between both companies, at least until recently where Samsung executives were reported to have illegally accessed the deal brokered between both companies, ultimately exposing some of its contents to the public. To that extent it has been discovered that Apple and Nokia’s licensing deal is only good for 5 years, meaning that it is expected to expire on the 31st of December 2016, with Apple calling the deal a “provincial license”.

Will Apple renew their licensing deal with Nokia, or will Apple have eventually figured a way around Nokia’s patents with inventions of their own? Well according to FOSS Patents, he believes that Apple and Nokia will most likely renegotiate and renew the deal and that any negotiation will most likely take place well ahead of the 2016 end date.

Since this involves large sums of money, it is likely that Nokia will renegotiate the terms with Apple, but we will see what happens. If Nokia decided to not renew the licenses to somehow support Microsoft, there is no telling what would happen and what would be gained. At this point in time, any major issues with Apple is more likely to benefit Google, the other major Microsoft competitor.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple
Tags: Legal, Nokia