>The announcement comes despite Microsoft agreeing to a 10-year deal to use the Nokia name on mobile products. That clause either didn't have much bite, or was

>The announcement comes despite Microsoft agreeing to a 10-year deal to use the Nokia name on mobile products. That clause either didn't have much bite, or was only a verbal side agreement/PR stunt and wasn't actually written into the acquisition agreement(s). EDIT: This article[1] clarifies via the relevant quote: >"Microsoft has also agreed to a 10-year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current and subsequently developed Mobile Phones based on the Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems," Nokia said in a recent US filing. Basically, Microsoft has the option to use the Nokia brand name and is presumably paying Nokia as part of the 10-yr brand license deal. Without knowing the specifics of the license agreement, Microsoft may have tied any transfer payments based on gross revenue from Microsoft Nokia-branded mobile products; simply dropping the brand name might be a convenient way to side-step any payments to Nokia if they had the foresight to add escape clauses to the agreement. [1] http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/nokia-cannot-use-mobile-brand-post-microsoft-deal-until-2016-422340 http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/nokia-cannot-use-mobile...