NEWS Nokia sues mobile rivals after $1.7 billion loss
Following a $1.7 billion loss in the first quarter of 2012, Nokia filed lawsuits against rivals HTC, RIM and ViewSonic, claiming that they failed to pay licences for using 45 of its patents.
Te lawsuits were filed in Germany’s regional courts in Mannheim, Munich and Dusseldorf, and the US Federal District Court of Delaware. Te claims cover technologies including power management, application stores, navigation and data encryption.
Te mobile phone maker also filed a complaint with the ITC against HTC, a Taiwanese manufacturer of smart phones and tablets. RIM, based in Canada, is best known for producing Blackberry
smart phones, while US firm
ViewSonic makes products including tablets and televisions.
In a statement, Nokia said it preferred to avoid litigation but “had to file these actions to end the unauthorised use of our proprietary innovations and technologies, which have not been widely licensed”.
Chief legal officer at the firm, Louise Pentland, said many of the inventions were “fundamental” to Nokia’s products. “We’d rather that other companies
respect our intellectual property and compete using their own inventions.”
A spokesman for ViewSonic said in an emailed statement that: “ViewSonic is aware of this legal action. We are taking appropriate measures to protect our interests.” RIM declined to comment on the lawsuit, while HTC was unavailable for comment.
Nokia has fought two major patent lawsuits in the past: one against Qualcomm, a US telecoms company, and the other against Apple, which
produces the iPhone and iPad. In its settlement with Apple in June 2011, Nokia reportedly received around $600 million in damages.
Te latest dispute came only weeks aſter the announcement that Nokia made a $1.7 billion loss in the first quarter of 2012. Jonathan Radcliffe, partner at Mayer Brown LLP in London, said to bring what is “clearly a deliberate and thoughtful attack of this magnitude” indicates the commercial pressure Nokia is “determined to put HTC and others under to reach an appropriate settlement”.
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World Intellectual Property Review July/August 2012
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