RIM settles with Dolby over audio patents

Research In Motion is no longer being sued by Dolby, after it agreed to pay Dolby licensing fees for the use of its audio compression technologies.

RIM uses the High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding (HE AAC) standard, which relies on Dolby audio compression technologies, in its BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablet. Dolby sued RIM on 15 June, claiming the patents for those technologies were being used without the appropriate licensing fees being paid.

Dolby's two cases against RIM were dismissed on Monday, following a licensing agreement between the two companies that Dolby announced on 4 August.

"We are pleased to welcome RIM into Dolby's family of mobile technology licensees," Dolby general counsel Andy Sherman said in a statement. "We believe in and will continue to protect the value of our intellectual property."

The suits had been filed in two district courts, one in San Francisco and the other in Mannheim, Germany. Under the terms of the settlement, RIM is licensing HE AAC, including Dolby's compression technologies, through Dolby subsidiary Via Licensing Corporation.

HE AAC is used for playing back digital music and other audio that has been compressed to less than a tenth of its original file size, and often finds its application in audio streaming.