Nokia pays Qualcomm $20m for patents

The ongoing legal battle between Nokia and mobile intellectual property company Qualcomm has taken a fresh twist.

The companies have been locked in an ongoing court battle after negotiations over the renewal of key patents broke down. The pair have sued and countersued each other in various countries across the world but have so far been unable to find a resolution to the spat over the patents, set to expire on 9 April.

Nokia has now revealed it has paid $20m for the use of patents relating to UMTS - one flavour of 3G - for the second quarter of this year. The world's biggest handset maker added it will make further payments and disclose them as appropriate.

This agreement, however, is not related to patents set to expire next week which Qualcomm believes will only be resolved by outside intervention. Today's agreement covers licences that Qualcomm provided through the European Telecommunication Standards Institute, Nokia said.

Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment.