Nokia, LG join hands; inks smartphone patent license

LG Electronics is the first major smartphone manufacturer to join the licensing program since Nokia divested its Devices and Services business to Microsoft in 2014

LG Electronics will soon embed technologies developed by Nokia in its smartphones as the Korean firm has agreed to take a royalty-bearing smartphone patent license from the Finnish telecom gear maker.

"We are pleased to welcome LG Electronics to our licensing program," Nokia Technologies President Ramzi Haidamus said in a statement.

LG Electronics is the latest of more than 60 licensees for Nokia's 2G, 3G and 4G mobile communication technologies and the first major smartphone manufacturer to join the licensing program since Nokia divested its Devices and Services business to Microsoft in 2014.

"We've worked constructively with LG Electronics and agreed on a mutually beneficial approach, including the use of independent arbitration to resolve any differences. This agreement sets the scene for further collaboration between our companies in future," Haidamus said.

The detailed royalty payment obligations will be subject to commercial arbitration and is expected to conclude within a 1-2 year timeframe. Other terms of the agreement remain confidential.