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Here’s why Nokia isn’t selling its patents to Microsoft

Published Sep 5th, 2013 3:20PM EDT
Nokia Patents

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When Microsoft acquired Nokia this Tuesday, Nokia remained the owner of its own patents. $2.2 billion of the $7.2 billion deal was spent on licensing Nokia’s patents for the next 10 years, which allows Nokia to license its IP to other companies and continue earning income from them while its mobile operations wind down. Reuters reports that this agreement is strategic for both Nokia and Microsoft, as Microsoft has already received patent royalties from around 20 Android manufacturers “as part of its effort to raise the cost of Google Inc’s mobile operating system.” Because Nokia has retained ownership of the patents, the Finnish corporation can obtain the same royalties if it so chooses to go after vendors. Michael Pierantozzi, an advisor at Lumen SV, is convinced that Nokia would have sold the patents outright if Microsoft had accepted its offer, but these developments likely indicate that the price was too high.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.