Nokia, Qualcomm seek common ground in legal fights

Nokia's President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo shows a mobile phone at a conference during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 12, 2008.

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and Qualcomm QCOMM.O agreed to look for ways in which a U.S. court in Delaware could solve some wider, international issues in the major legal battle between the two technology heavyweights.

"The parties are now working on the precise details, including the timeline, so that the proceedings can move forward," said Nokia spokeswoman Anne Eckert.

Eckert said the common issues could include interpretation of their 2001 technology licensing agreement, and certain parts of standardization rules.

"The intention is that the same interpretation applies to Qualcomm products using Nokia patents and to Nokia products if they are deemed to use Qualcomm patents," Eckert said.

Qualcomm said it was pleased there was positive news in the long-winding legal battle.

"Qualcomm is pleased that the issues with Nokia are moving toward a prompt resolution," said Christine Trimble, senior director of corporate communications for Qualcomm.

Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker, and San Diego-based chip firm Qualcomm have about a dozen legal fights pending on three continents. The two firms' expensive legal battle is worrying investors and the industry on both sides of the Atlantic.

The companies have been at legal loggerheads since they failed to renew a part of a key technology licensing pact that expired last April. Analysts have estimated Nokia pays around $500 million to Qualcomm annually for patents and wants to cut the sum.

Qualcomm's head of European operations, Andrew Gilbert, told Reuters in an interview conducted before the Delaware court hearing, that cutting the sum was not on the agenda.

"We want them to pay what they should be paying ... as soon as possible," Gilbert said in an interview at Mobile World Congress trade show.

"By the end of this year, actually their right to re-sign under the same terms expires and then we might have a more meaningful discussion about what the rate should be. When it comes to the end of this year maybe we do need to sit down and renegotiate but I don't see that going for less," he said.

Nokia has repeatedly said it was looking for a timely solution to the battle, but not at any cost.

Qualcomm's Gilbert said the company's legal bill this year would be on par with last year's, at "a little over $200 million," with most of the money used in battles with Nokia and Broadcom.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki, additional reporting by Gina Keating, editing by Richard Chang)