Nokia sues RIM for breach of contract

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Nokia Corp is suing Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, for breach of contract in Britain, the United States and Canada over cellular patents the two companies agreed on nine years ago.

The struggling Finnish cellphone maker said on Wednesday that it agreed with RIM in 2003 on a "cross-license for standards-essential cellular patents," amended in 2008.

RIM has since claimed the license should also have covered patents for non-essential parts and it filed arbitration proceedings with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in March 2011.

Earlier this month, the Arbitration Institute of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce ruled against RIM's claims.

Nokia said it had made the filings earlier this week to enforce the tribunal's ruling, which says that the Canadian company is "not entitled to manufacture or sell products compatible with the WLAN Standard without first agreeing with Nokia on the royalty to be paid."

RIM declined comment, saying that it was company policy "not to comment on pending litigation."

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said from New York that Nokia's filings mean that RIM likely will end up paying royalties of $2 to $5 per phone.

Nokia is among leading patent holders in the wireless industry.

Last year, it received a $565 million royalty payment from Apple Inc to settle long-standing patent disputes. It also has filed claims in the United States and Germany alleging that products from HTC Corp, and Viewsonic Corp infringe a number of its patents.

Major manufacturers of phones and wireless equipment are increasingly turning to patent litigation as they jockey for an edge to expand their share of the rapidly growing smartphone market.

Nokia shares closed down 1 per cent at Euro 2.53 in Helsinki on Wednesday.



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