Nokia, Qualcomm working out legal issues or just phoning it in?

Lawyers at Nokia and Qualcomm may soon have some free time on their hands. The two cell phone chip giants are close to an agreement on how to proceed with their massive legal battle going forward, according to reports out this morning from Barcelona, where the Mobile World Congress concluded yesterday.

The two have been fighting over issues related to a 2001 patent-licensing agreement, which expired in April 2007. Originally a Delaware case, the arbitration spread to the ITC and overseas.

It’s your basic he said, she said clash, where each company has at different points claimed its 3G patents are being infringed upon. At a court’s urging, Nokia and Qualcomm have been working to negotiate an agreement in which the arbitration would be consolidated into the Delaware case, according to reports.

It’s yet to be seen if the two companies are just “phoning it in” or if they will rein in their years-long and geographically swelling legal conflicts without further court intercession. But doing so would put some investor minds at ease. Both companies have devoted tremendous time and resources to their battles in the court room (Qualcomm even devotes part of its web site to legal news) and investors have openly commented on the expense.

Such an agreement wouldn’t hurt Qualcomm’s reputation, either. Besides battling with Nokia, it’s fought with Broadcom, and is dealing with complaints filed with the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the Japan Fair Trade Commission. I’m reminded of an interview I did when I first started covering news at Electronic News some five years back when Qualcomm’s attitude was described to me as “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine” by one of its smaller competitors.

And, hey, remember what it’s all supposed to be about in the end: innovation. Imagine where the cellular world would be if these two put the same energy they put into legal fights into their technology. 

Share your thoughts on the Nokia-Qualcomm legal situation below.

–Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News