Patent Ruling Means Nokia May Have to Stop Selling Two Discontinued Devices
After four years of legal wrangling, IPCom has emerged victorious from its battle with Nokia, though perhaps with less than it had hoped to show for its efforts.
The U.K. High Court ruled today that IPCom’s “268” patent on 3G mobile network technology is valid and found two Nokia devices to have infringed upon it, giving the Bavarian patent licensing company license to seek royalites from Nokia or a ban on the sale of those devices if it refuses to pay up.
Thing is, Nokia claims it no longer sells those devices and that nothing in its current handset portfolio infringes IPCom’s patent.
“We are pleased that the U.K. High Court declared that Nokia’s current products do not infringe the patent,” Nokia said in a statement to AllThingsD. “This means that we can continue selling those products, now with legal certainty.”
And, hey, thanks for clearing up the confusion, IPCom!
As one might imagine, Nokia’s interpretation of the ruling didn’t go over to well with IPCom.
“Nokia is clearly misleading the public on what the court ruled today,” IPCom managing director Bernhard Frohwitter told Bloomberg. “IPCom is ready to enforce the U.K. ruling.”