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????諾基亞(Nokia)周二早間宣布與蘋果公司(Apple)長(zhǎng)達(dá)20個(gè)月的專利訴訟案已經(jīng)達(dá)成和解，這對(duì)Android手機(jī)制造商可不是個(gè)好消息。 ????蘋果無(wú)疑是這場(chǎng)訴訟戰(zhàn)的輸家，蘋果的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)組合雖豐富，但仍不及諾基亞。和解條款未予披露，但諾基亞要求蘋果除了支付一次性賠償金外，還須支付專利使用費(fèi)，數(shù)額之大足以顯著改善諾基亞的季度盈利。受此影響，諾基亞股票在歐洲交易時(shí)段上漲了3%。 ????周二，法蘭克福交易所的蘋果股價(jià)也有上漲。美國(guó)科技博客FOSS Patents的弗洛里安?穆勒早已預(yù)見到了和解的結(jié)果，他說(和解)使兩家公司的資源都擺脫了禁錮。 ????“蘋果已卷入與三大Android手機(jī)生產(chǎn)商【摩托羅拉(Motorola)、宏達(dá)電(HTC)和三星(Samsung)】的法律訴訟。諾基亞眼下并無(wú)訴訟之虞，但諾基亞的新戰(zhàn)略包括逐步推進(jìn)其專利組合的貨幣化。此次諾基亞通過手機(jī)行業(yè)迄今為止?fàn)庌q最激烈的專利訴訟，擊敗蘋果便是一個(gè)明證。將來(lái)其他公司再接到諾基亞要求支付專利使用費(fèi)的要求，必須要仔細(xì)斟酌，是付錢，還是應(yīng)訴。” ????穆勒認(rèn)為，諾基亞的下一個(gè)目標(biāo)可能是將智能手機(jī)戰(zhàn)略系于谷歌(Google)軟件的手機(jī)制造商。“鑒于Android從很多方面都脫胎于蘋果操作系統(tǒng)，”他在文中寫到，“Android手機(jī)很可能也侵犯了蘋果目前不得不支付使用費(fèi)的相關(guān)諾基亞專利。” ????諾基亞通過事先準(zhǔn)備好的聲明宣布了勝利，而蘋果則表達(dá)了解脫之感。 ????“我們很高興看到蘋果加入日益壯大的諾基亞授權(quán)用戶隊(duì)伍，”諾基亞首席執(zhí)行官史蒂芬?埃洛普表示，“此次和解證明諾基亞擁有業(yè)內(nèi)領(lǐng)先的專利組合，未來(lái)，我們將繼續(xù)專注于移動(dòng)通信市場(chǎng)的授權(quán)事宜。” ????“蘋果和諾基亞已同意撤銷目前雙方之間所有的訴訟案，就雙方的一些專利達(dá)成許可協(xié)議，但不涉及令iPhone獨(dú)一無(wú)二的眾多創(chuàng)新技術(shù)，”蘋果發(fā)言人對(duì)《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》(Wall Street Journal)的AllThingsD專欄稱，”我們很高興這一訴訟已經(jīng)結(jié)束，我們都能重新專注于各自的業(yè)務(wù)。” ????雙方的爭(zhēng)議始于2009年10月。當(dāng)時(shí)諾基亞聲稱iPhone侵犯了諾基亞在整合GSM、UMTS和無(wú)線LAN方面的十項(xiàng)專利，通過訴訟和反訴，最后從特拉華州到杜塞爾多夫的7個(gè)不同法庭確認(rèn)涉及的專利數(shù)量多達(dá)75個(gè)。 |
????The settlement of its epic 20-month patent dispute with Apple (AAPL) that Nokia (NOK) announced early Tuesday could spell trouble for the makers of Android phones. ????There's no question Apple lost the legal battle that pitted its significant intellectual property holdings against Nokia's even deeper patent portfolio. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but they require Apple to make a one-time payment and ongoing royalties large enough to materially improve Nokia's earnings for the quarter. Nokia's stock was up 3% in European trading. ????Apple shares also rose on the Frankfurt exchange Tuesday, however. According to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, who had predicted this outcome, it frees up resources for both companies. ????"Apple is embroiled in litigation with the three leading Android device makers (Motorola, HTC and Samsung). Nokia doesn't have any litigation worries at the moment, but part of its new strategy is to ratchet up the monetization of its patent portfolio. The fact that Nokia has demonstrated its ability to defeat Apple -- after the most bitterly contested patent dispute that this industry has seen to date -- is a clear proof of concept. Other companies whom Nokia will ask to pay royalties will have to think very hard whether to pay or pick a fight." ????Mueller says Nokia's next target is likely to be the cellphone manufacturers that have hitched their smartphone strategies on Google's (GOOG) software. "Given that Android is in many ways a rip-off of Apple's operating software," he writes, "Android-based devices are highly likely to infringe on largely the same Nokia patents that Apple now felt forced to pay for." ????In prepared statements, Nokia declared victory and Apple expressed relief. ????"We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees," said Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. "This settlement demonstrates Nokia's industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market." ????"Apple and Nokia have agreed to drop all of our current lawsuits and enter into a license covering some of each others' patents, but not the majority of the innovations that make the iPhone unique," an Apple spokesman told the Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD. "We're glad to put this behind us and get back to focusing on our respective businesses." ????The dispute that started in Oct. 2009 when Nokia claimed that the iPhone was infringing on 10 patents Nokia holds on the integration of GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN, grew through suit and countersuit to the point where it covered a total of 75 patents in seven different legal venues, from Delaware to Dusseldorf. |
圖片來(lái)源：FOSS Patents
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????除蘋果和諾基亞法律部門外，穆勒或許是最關(guān)注案件進(jìn)展的人士之一。他畫了一組簡(jiǎn)圖來(lái)呈現(xiàn)所涉專利事項(xiàng)，就像右邊這幅圖。這里你可以看到2011年3月31日的版本。 ????“我并不持有其中任何一家科技公司的股票，”穆勒在訴訟和解后的分析文章中寫道，“但如果我是蘋果股東，我傾向于認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)積極的結(jié)果。看上去諾基亞贏了，但對(duì)于蘋果而言，這是一次甜蜜的失敗。因?yàn)樗母?jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手——特別是Android手機(jī)生產(chǎn)商——未來(lái)也要向諾基亞付錢。而且大多數(shù)(如果不是全部)安卓手機(jī)生產(chǎn)商的單位付款額可能更高，因?yàn)樗麄冋勁袝r(shí)拿出的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)數(shù)量顯然少于蘋果。因此從競(jìng)爭(zhēng)角度來(lái)看，我認(rèn)為蘋果損失有限。此事對(duì)蘋果利潤(rùn)率所造成的威脅并不比它對(duì)Android智能手機(jī)技術(shù)的市場(chǎng)化造成的威脅更大，蘋果的盈利能力甚至可能因此得到提升。” |
????Mueller, who was tracking the case as closely as anyone outside of Apple and Nokia's legal departments, diagrammed the issues at stake in a series of battlemaps like the one at right. You can see the March 31, 2011 version here. ????"I don't hold shares in any tech company," Mueller writes in his post-decision analysis, "but if I were an Apple shareholder, I would probably view this outcome favorably. Nokia emerges victorious, but this is a sweet defeat for Apple because its competitors -- especially those building Android-based devices -- will also have to pay Nokia, and most if not all of them will likely have to pay more on a per-unit basis because they don't bring as much intellectual property to the table as Apple definitely did. So from a competitive point of view, I don't think Apple loses much. On the bottom line its profitability may even benefit from this because Apple's margins face no greater threat than Android-style commoditization of smartphone technologies." |
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