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10 December 2019PatentsRory O'Neill

Nokia extends olive branch in Daimler SEP dispute

Finnish telecoms company Nokia has suspended its patent infringement litigation against German carmaker Daimler with a view to resolving the standard-essential patent (SEP) dispute through mediation.

The two companies have been at odds over access to Nokia patents, as the automobile company becomes increasingly dependent on telecommunications standards for developing technologies such as autonomous cars.

SEPs owned by telecoms companies such as Nokia are also essential to modern vehicle communications and navigation systems.

Nokia has filed lawsuits in Germany accusing Daimler of infringing its SEPs, while the Mercedez-Benz owner claims that Nokia has failed to offer a licence on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms.

Daimler escalated the dispute in April this year when the company asked the European Commission to open an antitrust investigation into Nokia.

Nokia now seems to be looking to avoid any further escalation of the dispute, and a potential EU investigation, with its latest mediation offer.

"We continue to believe that constructive negotiation is the best way to resolve licensing disputes, and have offered independent mediation to Daimler and its tier 1 suppliers to that end,” Nokia spokesperson Mark Durrant said.

“To ensure there is time for this mediation to be successful, we have unilaterally chosen to postpone the pending hearing on 10 December in Germany,” Durrant added.

A Daimler spokesperson said: “We have a different legal opinion on the question of how to license essential patents for telecommunications standards in the automotive industry. Nokia has so far refused to license our suppliers directly on a comprehensive basis.”

At the time of filing its EU antitrust complaint, the German carmaker said it was seeking “clarification on how essential patents for telecommunications standards are to be licensed in the automotive industry”.

The commission has yet to formally open an investigation into Nokia, but the Finnish company came under increased pressure after car parts suppliers Valeo and Continental soon joined Daimler’s antitrust complaint.

Durrant added: “We trust that Daimler and its tier 1 suppliers will now engage in these meaningful efforts to reach settlement. There is more to gain for all if we work together."

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More on this story

Patents
1 April 2019   German carmaker Daimler has lodged a complaint with the EU antitrust regulators against Nokia over patents essential to car communications.
Patents
12 December 2019   German carmaker Daimler has agreed to enter mediation with Nokia with a view to ending its standard-essential patent licensing dispute.
Patents
1 April 2020   The European Commission has sought information from German carmaker Daimler and its supplier Continental on the lack of a breakthrough in patent talks with Nokia.