Samsung to pay $400 million to settle patent infringement dispute

Samsung and InterDigital, fleshing out a settlement first agreed to in November, have reached an agreement over a patent dispute. Samsung will pay $400 million dollars to the upstart company. InterDigital claims that their patents allow them to seek licenses from cellphone manuufacturers. They already have signed pacts with a dozen companies including RIM, Apple and LG Electronics. Nokia and Samsung, together representing 60% of the cellphone market, have refused to purchase a license. Samsung was under some pressure to reach an agreement because a trade commission was days away from a decision that could have stopped imports to the U.S. of both the Samsung Instinct and the BlackJack II. Instead, the cellphone maker will pay $100 million dollars four times over the next 18 months to use the patents covering digital technology and high-speed broadband through 2012. When that agreement ends, both sides can agree to terms for Samsung to license the patents. In 2006, InterDigital won a $253 million from Nokia and still has a case pending against the Finnish device maker in fromt of the ITC. Now the question is, what will InterDigital invest in with all of that cash. Any ideas?

source: Digits

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