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Nokia settles patent battle with Apple

Marketplace Staff Jun 14, 2011
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Nokia settles patent battle with Apple

Marketplace Staff Jun 14, 2011
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STEVE CHIOTAKIS: Apple reportedly has settled with Swedish mobile phone maker Nokia over patent infringement. There’s been no word on how much Apple will pay. The agreement could have big repercussions in the smart phone business.

Cecilia Kang is tech reporter for the Washington Post and she’s with us now. Good morning Cecilia.

CECILIA KANG: Good morning.

CHIOTAKIS: Now this is being considered a win for Nokia, right?

KANG: This is a win for Nokia in that it’s really been fighting in international trade courts, for money that it thinks that Apple owes it for its patents. By Apple agreeing to the settlement, Nokia wins. It gets money and it gets a, “We told you so. We were right,” kind of bragging rights.

CHIOTAKIS: And what was Nokia saying? What were they claiming?

KANG: Well, Nokia was saying that Apple had been using technology that infringes its copyrights — its patents — on smartphone technology. It’s everything that you would expect and you know that belongs on the iPhone and the iPad — the swipe technology, the ability to toggle back and forth between different applications — the things that made its products like the iPhone very popular. These are things that Nokia says, “Hey, we actually came up with a decade before you even put out the iPhone or the iPad. And so we should get paid.”

CHIOTAKIS: And what are the broader implications for the mobile sector?

KANG: The reason why this is important is because the real money in technology is in mobile devices and mobile technology. For the phone makers that are watching this, they’re wondering how this applies to them because they’re all using the same technology in some ways.

CHIOTAKIS: Cecilia Kang, tech reporter with the Washington Post. Celilia thanks.

KANG: Thank you.

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