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Motorola and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion have decided to just get along and throw their outstanding legal litigations out the window, each announced in a June 11 press statement. The smartphone makers, once at odds over patents, have now entered into a settlement and license agreement.
“Under the Agreement, Motorola and RIM will benefit from a long-term, intellectual property cross-licensing arrangement involving the parties receiving cross-licenses of various patent rights, including patent rights relating to certain industry standards and certain technologies, such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 802.11 and wireless email,” read the statement. “In addition, the parties will transfer certain patents to each other.”
While from 2003 to 2007 Motorola and RIM had a licensing agreement, following that time the two fell into disputes. On Jan. 22, Motorola filed a complaint against the BlackBerry maker, stating that RIM “engaged in unfair practices by the importation and sale of RIM products that infringe on five of Motorola’s patents.”
Jonathan Meyer, senior vice president of intellectual property law at Motorola, added in the suit, “In light of RIM’s continued unlicensed use of Motorola’s patents, RIM’s use of delay tactics in our current patent litigation, and RIM’s refusal to design out Motorola’s proprietary technology, Motorola had no choice but to file a complaint with the ITC to halt RIM’s continued infringement.”
On Feb. 19, the International Trade Commission agreed to investigate Motorola’s claim.
In the June 11 announcement of their truce, the two said that “financial terms of the Agreement include an up-front payment and ongoing royalties to Motorola.”
All further terms and conditions, it added, are confidential.