The companies have been at legal loggerheads since they failed to renew a key technology licensing pact that expired on April 9. On Friday, chipmaker Qualcomm said it won a round in its legal battles with cell phone giant Nokia following a string of legal disappointments over the summer.

A judge recommended ending a U.S. International Trade Commission investigation of a complaint that Nokia had brought against Qualcomm as the companies are already in arbitration proceedings related to their 2001 technology license agreement.

"We continue to negotiate," Nokia CTO Tero Ojanpera, who is in charge of intellectual property rights issues at the world's top cell phone maker, said Tuesday at a technology event in northern Finland. "I think Friday's ruling was more like a procedural one and not based on merits of the patents."

Meanwhile, the ITC held a two-week hearing in September related to a complaint Qualcomm had made in June against Nokia, accusing the cell phone maker of infringing three patents.

A final decision on that case is not expected until 2008 after a judge's expected recommendation later this year.

In yet another case, the ITC banned the U.S. import of some phones with Qualcomm chips that were found to infringe on a patent owned by Broadcom. The ban has been partially stayed while Qualcomm appeals the case.