Nokia, Research In Motion Settle Patent Disputes

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Peace, love and harmony. A tip of the hat to the current holiday season or a clever business deal?

We're discussing the announcement between Nokia (NOK) and Research In Motion (RIMM) -- they've agreed to settle their long-festering patent dispute. Actually, they're saying they've settled "all legal actions" between each other.

According to Nokia's official press release, RIM will make a one-time payment to Nokia and continue payments for use of Nokia patents in BlackBerry products. The exact amounts involved weren't disclosed, but some bloggers believe it might be similar to what Apple (AAPL) and Nokia agreed to in 2011.

As a consequence, both companies will drop all patent lawsuits in the U.S., Canada and Great Britain.

"We are very pleased to have resolved our patent licensing issues with RIM, while maintaining Nokia's ability to protect our unique product differentiation," Nokia Chief Intellectual Officer Paul Melin said in the release. "This agreement demonstrates Nokia's industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market."

Nokia also boasts: "During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately 45 billion euros in research and development and built the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) portfolio with around 10,000 patent families."

Research In Motion has yet to comment on the deal.

-- Written by Gary Krakow in New York.

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Gary Krakow is TheStreet's senior technology correspondent.