Apple and Nokia end patent battle

Nokia and Apple have ended their legal battle over intellectual property and reached an agreement to use techniques with patents owned by both companies. The two companies announce that they want to work together on health applications.

Nokia and Apple have sued each other several times since 2009 for patent infringement. Apple allegedly infringed patents that Nokia owns in the field of GSM, Wi-Fi and UMTS with its iPhone models, according to the claim in those cases. After years of negotiations, the companies have now gone from adversaries in court to business partners, Nokia’s chief legal officer Maria Varsellona reports.

Under the agreement, Apple will pay an undisclosed amount to Nokia and the Finnish company will receive additional revenue over the term of the deal. Nokia will provide network infrastructure products and services to Apple and the Cupertino company will continue to sell Nokia health products in its stores. Nokia acquired French wearables maker Withings last year.

In addition, Apple and Nokia are investigating whether they can work together on health applications. Apple focuses strongly on this growth market, including HealthKit for iOS and watchOS.