BRUSSELS — Daimler has agreed to pay Nokia for utilizing its patents, ending a dispute that highlighted a battle between tech and automobile corporations over royalties for key applied sciences.

Daimler and Nokia, which makes 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in licensing income yearly, had sued one another in German courts lately, with combined outcomes.

Tech corporations need automakers to pay royalties for applied sciences utilized in navigation techniques, automobile communications and self-driving vehicles, however automakers say their suppliers ought to pay as a substitute, which may cut back the charges for patent holders.

The agreement announced jointly on Tuesday marks the newest win for Nokia which in April struck a take care of China’s Lenovo beneath which the world’s greatest PC maker would make a web balancing cost to the Finnish telecoms tools maker and resolve all pending litigation.

That adopted a take care of Samsung the earlier month during which the South Korean firm agreed to make royalty funds for its applied sciences associated to video requirements.

Nokia and Daimler didn’t disclose the phrases of their patent licensing deal, however mentioned they might halt litigation. The German carmaker has up to now by no means paid Nokia for utilizing its patents.

“We welcome the settlement, from an financial viewpoint and since we keep away from prolonged … disputes,” a Daimler spokeswoman mentioned.

The deal is sweet information for Nokia, mentioned Danske Financial institution analyst Mads Rosendal.

“The income stream isn’t more likely to be materials however on the very least it will likely be very secure and excessive margin. Additionally, ending of the dispute ought to save a good quantity of authorized prices going ahead. Barely credit score constructive for Nokia, in our view,” he mentioned.

The tip of the dispute means a German courtroom’s request final yr to the Luxembourg-based Courtroom of Justice, Europe’s highest, for steering on the difficulty might be moot.

Nonetheless, German provider Continental, which along with Daimler, Bury Applied sciences, Valeo and Thales-owned Gemalto complained about Nokia’s patent charges to EU antitrust regulators in 2019, mentioned it was not dropping its grievance nor authorized combat in the USA.

It urged the European Fee to set out a binding patent licensing framework.

“It should outline this framework in any other case European corporations will face an insurmountable aggressive drawback sooner or later market of the Web of Issues in comparison with Asian and American market individuals,” Continental board member and head of its automobile networking and data enterprise unit Helmut Matschi mentioned in a press release.

Audi, Bentley, BMW, Mini, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Volvo already pay patent charges to Nokia.