What secret is Nokia and Samsung hiding from the public?

An interesting sidebar to the Apple-Samsung patent trial sequel is taking place between Samsung and Nokia. On Monday, Nokia requested to have a motion sealed. Normally this might not seem like a big deal, courts are bombarded with such requests every day. But what made this request interesting is that the document that Nokia wants to seal is a motion to have a motion sealed. In other words, Finnish based Nokia does not want the public to see documents related to the second Samsung vs. Apple patent trial that have to do with itself and Samsung.

The filing in Nokia's request says that simply stating the reason why it requested a non-disclosure agreement would be a violation of the non-disclosure agreement. And parts of the document also hint that the Nokia-Apple patent licensing agreement of 2011 is also involved. But the main reason for the request for privacy apparently has to do with requests for certain documents by Samsung to be used for its case against Apple. Nokia is worried that there is something in these papers that if seen by the public, would be bad for Nokia.

Right off the bat, when trying to determine what Nokia and Samsung could have been talking about that needs to be kept quiet, your mind turns to some sort of deal involving a purchase of Nokia by Samsung. An intriguing thought although a long shot. What about the sale of some Nokia assets to Samsung? Perhaps Nokia owns some patents that in Samsung's hands, could help it in the trial against Apple. Or perhaps Samsung is looking to license some of Nokia's non standards-essential patents. Whatever the reason for Nokia's request to seal paperwork related to a request for a seal, it does add another level of intrigue to the trial.

  

source: Scribd, FOSSPatents
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