When it comes to press releases announcing major patent licensing deals, the slightest change in the description of the terms of one deal relative to another can mean a lot. That's definitely the case for Apple's (AAPL) new settlement with Nokia (NOK) .

Whereas the press release announcing Apple's 2011 patent-licensing deal with Nokia, as well as the one announcing Apple's 2015 patent deal with Ericsson (ERIC) , mentioned that Apple would pay "on-going royalties," Tuesday morning's release about Apple and Nokia's latest settlement only talks of ""additional revenues during the term of the agreement." The change in phrasing probably has much to do with Apple's wish to prevent the Nokia settlement from hurting its prospects in its increasingly bitter dispute with Qualcomm (QCOM) , a dispute that has featured lawsuits on both sides and strikes at the heart of Qualcomm's licensing model.

Nokia and Apple had sued each other in December 2016, shortly before the expiration of their deal reached in 2011. Nokia alleged infringement of dozens of patents -- including those separate from the ones covered by the 2011 deal -- covering display, software, UI, chip and video encoding technologies, among other things. Apple, perhaps recognizing a Nokia suit was on the way, accused Nokia of violating antitrust law by handing off some patents to "patent assertion entities" (less charitably referred to as patent trolls), who would then use the assets to sue Apple and others for infringement, with Nokia getting a cut of the proceeds.

Likely contributing to the tensions: Nokia has gotten more aggressive about trying to monetize its massive mobile patent portfolio since wisely selling its hard-luck phone business to Microsoft (MSFT) for $7.2 billion in 2014. That sale significantly reduced Nokia's patent cross-licensing needs, and gave it more leeway to strike harder bargains with phone makers. Two licensing deals were struck with Samsung last year, with Nokia stating the second deal would lift the revenue run rate for its licensing business by €150 million to €950 million ($168 million to $1.07 billion).

Nokia had cut its run-rate forecast back to €800 million ($895 million) due to the dispute with Apple. But an upwards revision should be on the way soon: Nokia and Apple say they've "settled all litigation" and reached a new multi-year IP deal. Nokia's shares were up 6% on the news, while Apple's shares were down 0.3% on Tuesday.

Nokia will get an unspecified up-front cash payment -- the 2011 deal reportedly featured a $720 million up-front payment -- and will sell "certain network infrastructure products and services to Apple," which has built a giant global data center infrastructure over the last several years. Apple will also resume selling Nokia's digital health hardware (a product of the 2016 Withings acquisition), and the companies will explore potential digital health collaborations.

But it's the lack of any indication that the deal will feature royalty payments that's the most head-turning part of the announcement. Nokia, like Qualcomm and Ericsson, has typically received royalties from mobile licensees that are based on a percentage of a phone's selling price. From the looks of things, Apple could be replacing the iPhone royalty payments that were part of the 2011 deal with fixed licensing fees.

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