Apple, the usual bastion of independence and closed ranks has licensed software patents to a number of key rivals and tech giants including Nokia and IBM, new reports have revealed.

Whilst the Cupertino based company is currently embroiled in a series of high profile and lengthy court cases with Samsung over patent disputes, the iPhone and iPad maker revealed that unlike fellow handset manufacturer Nokia a deal that would have seen the S II and Tab 10.1 producer license Apple’s patented software tech fell through late last year.

Apple vs. Samsung Patent Disputes

Making the revelation in its latest bid to have the Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from sale in the US Apple revealed that Nokia has paid for the rights to use its software technology protected by patent number #7,469,381, a rather innocuous offering that relates to the ‘scrollback’ features of the iOS mobile operating system.

Covering the functionality that creates a bit of grey space before bouncing the screen back to centre when scrolling past the site’s limits, the patent has been utilised in Nokia’s recently released Window’s Phone 7 offering the Nokia Lumia 800.

What do you make of the recent and ongoing patent clashes between Apple and Samsung, a tiresome and pointless argument or an exciting battle to determine the tech industry’s biggest player? Let us know what you think via the comments box below.

Via: TechRadar