Nokia wins as UK court rules phone maker infringed patent
The dispute centred on an implementation patent | Litigation is part of a global battle over Nokia’s patent portfolio | Qualcomm | Nokia | Oppo
Oppo has infringed one of Nokia’s patents covering transmission signals in mobile phones, the High Court of England and Wales has ruled.
Justice Richard Meade delivered the decision this morning, November 9, holding that Oppo’s mobile phones had infringed claim 1 of the patent-in-suit (EP3716560).
A global battle
The dispute arose over chips used in Oppo phones and is part of a wider, global battle between Nokia and Oppo over the terms of a licence for Nokia’s patent portfolio.
The alleged infringement centred on the operation of the chips inside Oppo phones. Qualcomm made and supplied the chip and the details of its arrangement with Oppo are confidential.
This meant that Nokia sought to prove infringement by doing experiments and by obtaining disclosure from Qualcomm in the US courts using the procedure under 28 USC §1782.
Commenting on the ruling, a Nokia spokesperson said: “Courts in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK have all found Oppo has infringed Nokia’s patented technologies in its smartphones. It’s time for Oppo to play by the rules and renew its licence on fair terms.”
The next step in the process is a hearing (or hearings) where the judge will hear arguments from Nokia and Oppo in relation to costs, any requests for permission to appeal, and the granting of any injunction.
Today’s decision follows the injunctions granted in Munich and Mannheim on five patents, and in the Netherlands on two patents.
On June 21, the Mannheim Regional Court ruled that Oppo was infringing a Wi-Fi implementation patent (EP1704731). Mannheim Regional Court
On July 5, the same court again ruled in Nokia’s favour, this time on two cellular standard essential patents (SEPs). The court found that Oppo was an unwilling licensee and that Nokia had acted fairly.
Products withdrawal
The two SEPs were both from the same patent family and disclose efficient assignments of preambles when initiating random access to an LTE (4G) network or NR (5G) network.
On August 5, the Regional Court in Munich ruled on two separate cases and granted two more injunctions against Oppo, which then announced that it was voluntarily withdrawing its products from sale in Germany.
In the Netherlands, Oppo filed patent invalidation actions on Nokia’s patents, prompting the company to counter-sue for infringement.
The District Court of the Hague in the Netherlands found that Oppo infringed two of Nokia’s patents, essential to 4G and 5G standards and granted an injunction.
WIPR has approached Oppo for comment.
