WILMINGTON, Del. – A Delaware judge has postponed the start of a trial pitting cell phone chip maker Qualcomm Inc. against mobile handset maker Nokia Corp. in a dispute over licensing fees.

The trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday morning but was delayed for several hours because of technical difficulties in establishing a Webcast feed. Vice-chancellor Leo Strine later decided to postpone the start of the trial until Thursday morning. The reason for the postponement was not immediately clear.

The Delaware lawsuit is part of a multinational legal battle between the two companies, who disagree on whether Nokia owes Qualcomm royalty payments for use of certain wireless technology patents.

San Diego-based Qualcomm contends that Nokia, a Finnish company that is the world's largest mobile phone maker, owes it royalties under a 2001 licensing agreement.

Nokia claims that it has paid more than $1 billion to Qualcomm and has satisfied its obligations, and that the patent licensing deal has expired.