Apple licensed an iOS software patent to Nokia and IBM reportedly related to scrolling, especially the part where over-scrolling reveals a textured background.

When Apple and Samsung reached a settlement over a patent battle last summer and withdrew complaints from the U.S. International Trade Commission, Apple not only paid up a one-time check but also forked over ongoing royalties to Nokia. One of the items Apple licensed to Nokia and IBM is reportedly the iOS scrolling patent. This by itself demonstrates that Apple lost a major fight as the Cupertino company was never so willing to give away code, especially if that bit was referring to iOS.

What's even more interesting is that Apple reportedly offered the license to the same patent to Samsung during failed settlement negotiations in November 2010. This, of course, in a context in which the late Steve Jobs wanted to destroy Android because he regarded it as being a stolen product. Theres no information on why those specific negotiations failed (or whether others are ongoing with lawsuits between the two companies now existing on almost every continent).











In the Nokia-Apple war settled last summer, which took place in a courtroom instead of the market, Nokia had initially sued Apple at the end of 2009 over ten GSM, UMTS, and Wi-Fi related patents allegedly infringed by Cupertino in its iPhones; Apple got back in the game with a lawsuit against Espoo for alleged infringement of thirteen Apple patents.

[via The Verge, MyNokiaBlog]

This article originally published at Pocketnow here