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Nokia says to get sales boost after patent ruling

Nokia's patent unit had sales of €616m in the first half of the year - just 6% of its total revenue
Nokia's patent unit had sales of €616m in the first half of the year - just 6% of its total revenue

Nokia will start to book additional revenue from the current quarter after a ruling by an arbitration court on payments from South Korea's LG Electronics for using its smartphone patents. 

The Finnish company said it would also get a one-off payment, although it did not disclose any of the sums involved. 

The companies had started the arbitration in 2015. 

"We believe that this award confirms the quality of Nokia's patent portfolio. We continue to see potential for additional licensing opportunities," Nokia's chief legal officer Maria Varsellona said in a statement. 

The ruling was made by the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. 

Nokia has recently signed deals with larger phone makers Samsung Electronics and Apple, as well as China's Xiaomi Technology. 

Nokia's patent unit had sales of €616m in the first half of the year - just 6% of the group's total revenue. 

However, licensing payments are highly profitable while Nokia's core business, telecom networks, is suffering an industry-wide slump. 

Nokia sold its once-dominant phone business to Microsoft in 2014 but retained its patent catalogue covering technology that reduces the need for hardware components in a phone, conserves battery life and increases radio reception, among other features.

LG has a global market share of around 4% in smartphones, according to Strategy Analytics.