Trial to begin in Nokia, Qualcomm licensing fight

By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE: ), the world's largest cell-phone maker, and wireless chip supplier Qualcomm (QCOM.O: ) go to court on Wednesday in hopes of resolving a licensing fight that involves hundreds of millions of dollars and has spawned lawsuits on three continents. The case is based on a 1992 licensing agreement that allowed Nokia to use Qualcomm's patents in its phones. That license expired on April 9, 2007, after Nokia paid Qualcomm $1 billion in fees and considered it to be paid up. But Qualcomm disagreed, and is asking the Delaware Court of Chancery, which hears business disputes, to rule that Nokia extended that agreement by continuing to buy its patented products on the same terms. Nokia says that under the deal between the two companies the cross-licensing agreement can only be... [read full story]