Nokia announced in a press release today, that Samsung has extended the patent licensing deal between the two companies for another five years without disclosing the details of the agreement.
According to the new agreement, Samsung will be paying additional compensation to Nokia starting from January 1, 2014 but the exact amount is expected to be finalized by 2015. Nokia mentions that the earlier agreement was supposed to expire by the end of 2013.
Microsoft has placed a bid for Nokia"s Devices and Services business but Nokia will keep the ownership of all the telecom patents as part of their Advanced Technologies business. Similar licensing agreements would likely be the purpose of Nokia"s move to retain the patents.
Nokia has told TechCrunch, that they have previously entered into licensing agreements with 50 other handset suppliers and the terms have always been confidential. Nokia also made an agreement with Apple two years back, which shows that they hold very relevant technology patents. With recent patent infringement lawsuits from industry heavyweights Apple, Microsoft and Sony against Google and other Android smartphone makers, this could be a smart move from Samsung to stay safe.
Source: TechCrunch via Nokia