Zero Hour in the Nokia-Qualcomm Spat

As titanic tech-company rivalries go, Nokia vs. Qualcomm may not yet rank with Apple (AAPL) vs. Microsoft (MSFT) or Oracle (ORCL) vs. SAP (SAP). But the dispute between the Finnish mobile handset giant and the U.S. chipmaker is approaching that magnitude. In the final days before a licensing agreement between the two expires on Apr. 9, they are turning up the volume in a dispute over the intellectual property underlying a growing share of the world's most advanced mobile phones.

The latest salvo: On Apr. 5, Nokia (NOK) said it would pay $20 million to Qualcomm (QCOM) to cover some patent rights through the second quarter. Analysts said this maneuver reduces Nokia's legal risk while setting a low bar for license fees. Just two days earlier, Qualcomm filed lawsuits in Texas and Wisconsin accusing Nokia of patent infringement, the latest in a long series of court disputes on three continents.