Apple and Nokia will team up on health tech after settling patent dispute

Apple has signed a multi-year agreement with Nokia to use its intellectual property, managing to resolve one of its many ongoing patent disputes.

Nokia filed a suit towards the end of last year after the Cupertino giant declined to license patents related to technologies used in its products. With the two now shaking hands, it was also announced in a joint statement that Apple and Nokia will explore working on future "digital health initiatives" together.

Read this: Apple Watch Series 3 investigation

Initially, Apple had an agreement in place for a handful of Nokia technologies, but opted to withhold offers on 32 other patents which focused on the likes of video encoding and chipsets. Moving forward, though, Nokia will provide "network infrastructure products and services" to Apple, while its own products (soon set to remove the Withings tag after that acquisition) will resume their place within the Apple Store.

"This is a meaningful agreement between Nokia and Apple," said Maria Varsellona, the chief legal officer at Nokia. "It moves our relationship with Apple from being adversaries in court to business partners working for the benefit of our customers."

Further details of the licensing agreement remain confidential, though the bigger takeaway here is what this means for the future. For this to be settled out of court, it indicates the pair is looking for a win-win.

Apple, who has been increasingly prioritising health tech in recent years, is set to gain access to some of the smarts that have gone into making Nokia's Withings platform one of the best around, while Nokia itself will continue to be boosted by the seal of approval that comes with being sold in Apple's stores.

With the two only just burying the hatchet, though, it could be a while until we see a collaborative effort come to the fore - stay tuned.