Nokia, which makes 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in
licensing revenues every year, and carmaker Daimler had sued each other in
German courts in recent years, with mixed results.
Tech firms want automakers to pay royalties for technologies
used in navigation systems, vehicle communications and self-driving cars, but
the latter say their suppliers should pay instead, which could reduce the fees
for patent holders.
The agreement announced jointly on Tuesday marks the latest
win for Nokia which in April struck a deal with China's Lenovo under which the
world's biggest PC maker would make a net balancing payment to the Finnish
telecoms equipment maker and resolve all pending litigation.
That followed a deal with Samsung the previous month in
which the South Korean company agreed to make royalty payments for its
technologies related to video standards.
Nokia and Daimler did not disclose the terms of their patent
licensing deal, but said they would halt litigation. The German carmaker has to
date never paid Nokia for using its patents.
"We welcome the settlement, from an economic point of
view and because we avoid lengthy ... disputes," a Daimler spokeswoman
said.
The deal is good news for Nokia, said Danske Bank analyst
Mads Rosendal.
"The revenue stream is not likely to be material but at
the very least it will be very stable and high margin. Also, ending of the
dispute should save a fair amount of legal costs going forward. Slightly credit
positive for Nokia, in our view," he said.
The end of the dispute means a German court's request last
year to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice, Europe's highest, for guidance
on the issue will be moot.
However, German car parts maker Continental, which together
with Daimler, Bury Technologies, Valeo and Thales-owned Gemalto complained
about Nokia's patent fees to EU antitrust regulators in 2019, said it was not
dropping its complaint nor legal fight in the United States.
It urged the European Commission to set out a binding patent
licensing framework.
"It must ... define this framework otherwise European
companies will face an insurmountable competitive disadvantage in the future
market of the Internet of Things compared to Asian and American market
participants," Continental board member and head of its vehicle networking
and information business unit Helmut Matschi said in a statement. -Reuters