Research In Motion, Dolby settle patent lawsuits

Dolby Laboratories said Monday that Research In Motion has agreed to license audio technologies that were at the center of two lawsuits filed by Dolby against the Canadian smartphones and tablets company.

The licensing agreement covers the implementation of the HE AAC (High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) standard, including use of Dolby's audio compression technologies in RIM's smartphone and tablet devices, Dolby said in a statement on Monday.

Dolby has agreed to withdraw the patent infringement actions against RIM, and the cases were dismissed Monday following an agreement between the two parties, Dolby said. RIM could not be immediately reached for comment.

The financial terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed, though Dolby said the agreement is on the standard terms offered by Via Licensing, a Dolby subsidiary that licenses patents essential to the HE AAC international standard on behalf of multiple essential patent owners.

Dolby said during its fiscal third-quarter earnings call on Aug. 4 that it expected about US$15 million in the fourth quarter in back royalties from RIM, as a result of a licensing agreement between Via and RIM.

HE AAC, which is used in smartphones, portable music players, tablets, and PCs, provides digital audio compression, using limited amounts of transmission and storage space for such audio, Dolby said.

Dolby filed lawsuits in June against RIM that focused on its use of Dolby's audio technologies. The suits were filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, and in the Mannheim District Court in Mannheim, Germany.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John's e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com