Nokia pays Qualcomm $20 million for patents

The legal battle between Nokia and Qualcomm has taken a fresh twist.

The companies have been locked in a court battle since 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 Monday.

Handset maker Nokia has now revealed it has paid $20 million for the use of patents relating to UMTS--one flavor 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 that chip manufacturer Qualcomm believes will be resolved only by outside intervention. Thursday's agreement covers licenses that Qualcomm provided through the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Nokia said.

Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment.

Jo Best of Silicon.com reported from London.