Nokia seeks import ban of HTC phones

Finnish phone maker Nokia will seek to block HTC from importing several devices into the UK after a judge ruled that they infringe a patent.

Mr Justice Arnold, sitting at the England & Wales High Court, found on Wednesday that Nokia’s European patent 0 998 024 is valid and infringed by products including the HTC One.

The patent – “Modulator structure for a transmitter and a mobile station” – is not limited to mobile phone networks but is particularly relevant to them. It covers three mobile network standards: GSM, PCN and PCS.

In a 189-paragraph ruling, Arnold found the patent novel and non-obvious, while he said three HTC phones infringe the patent. The devices are the One SV (LTE and non-LTE), Wildfire and One, One SV (LTE and non-LTE).

Arnold added that Taiwanese company HTC did not establish its defence of licence.

A Nokia spokesman welcome the ruling, saying it was a “significant development”.

“Nokia will now seek an injunction against the import and sale of infringing HTC products in the UK as well as financial compensation. Local counterparts of this patent are already in suit against HTC in Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.”

The spokesman added: “This is the third court this year to find that HTC infringes Nokia patents, bringing the number of patents found infringed to four. In September, the US International Trade Commission gave an initial determination of infringement of two Nokia patents and, in March, the Mannheim court ordered HTC to cease infringing a Nokia power saving patent.”

In a statement, an HTC spokesman said that “naturally, HTC is disappointed by the decision that the UK court has reached in this case and we will be seeking to appeal the finding immediately”.

Nokia will see the ruling as a commercial victory, said Avi Freeman, partner at law firm Beck Greener.

“Nokia has had a lot of problems recently, but the patents are going well for them while no one is buying their phones. There is a strategic importance of IP – yes, it is a legal right – but companies also view it as a commercial tool. This latest round in the scrap emphasises that even further.”

Nokia sued HTC in 2012 and has asserted more than 50 patents against the company in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK and US.

Despite Nokia winning some of the battles, HTC has triumphed in others. In March, for example, the District Court of Mannheim rejected Nokia’s claims that the Android-licensor infringed two patents, one of which was directed to using a telecoms network.

Freeman said of the latest ruling: “Whether or not this is the end of the UK scrap, who knows.”

He added: “This ruling is a great advert for British litigation – we have a judge here in the (commercial) high court who is so on top of the subject matter. It is like reading a university textbook on electronics.”

In September this year, Microsoft agreed to license around 30,000 patents owned by Nokia as part of a €5.44 billion ($7.16 billion) buyout of the Finnish company’s mobile phone division

Hogan Lovells LLP is acting for HTC in the UK dispute, while Nokia is represented by Bird & Bird LLP.