British chipmaker Imagination Technologies announced on Thursday that Apple has signed a new licensing agreement with the firm. The agreement gives Apple access to the company’s intellectual property in exchange for licensing fees.
The news came via a brief statement on the Imagination Technologies website.
London, UK; 2nd January 2020 – Imagination Technologies (“Imagination”) announces that it has replaced the multi-year, multi-use license agreement with Apple, first announced on February 6, 2014, with a new multi-year license agreement under which Apple has access to a wider range of Imagination’s intellectual property in exchange for license fees.
The development apparently ends a period of discord that began back in April 2017, when Apple told the British chipmaker that it planned to stop using its graphics technology in iOS devices within two years.
Imagination, which relied on the Cupertino firm for up to half of its revenue, saw its shares drop by 60% on the news of Apple’s plans. Imagination at the time criticized Apple’s move, saying it doubted the iPhone maker could produce its own graphics technology without violating Imagination’s patents, intellectual property, and confidential information.
The British firm accused Apple of unauthorized use of its IP. Meanwhile, Apple claimed the firm had known for nearly two years that it was backing out of the relationship, and was only publicly revealing the upcoming separation after Apple invoked a contract clause allowing it to pay lower royalty rates.
Imagination Technologies lost 70% of its value in the wake of the Apple dispute and put itself up for sale in June 2017. The firm was purchased by the Chinese-backed equity firm Canyon Bridge in November 2017.