Apple struck a deal worth $938 million over the next seven years to licence InterDigital’s patents, in a boost to the R&D company following ongoing negotiations to renew its relationship with the iPhone maker.

InterDigital revealed the agreement in an SEC filing, stating it expected to recognise approximately $134 million in revenue each year over the term of the licence.

The company has a large portfolio of 5G technology patents.

Apple has been a licensee of InterDigital since 2007 and, on an earnings call in August, the latter’s CEO Liren Chen noted there had been multiple renewals over the years.

At the time, Chen expressed confidence in its negotiations with Apple “based on how much our technology has advanced”, while also noting a deal with Samsung covering smartphone patents was up for renewal in Q4. With the InterDigital negotiations settled, Apple will hope it will be able to do the same in discussions with vendor Ericsson, with the pair embroiled in a 5G licensing battle.

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