Nokia plans to appeal China FRAND decision

Chinese phone maker asks Nokia to end patent-fee row after court ‘sides’ with Oppo’s request for lower SEP rates | Nokia ‘prefers not to comment’ on unpublished ruling.

Smartphone manufacturer Oppo has claimed a judgment delivered by a Chinese court last week backs its bid to pay lower fees for Nokia’s standard-essential patents (SEPs).

The Chongqing First Intermediate People’s Court issued a determination on December 4 based on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, ordering Oppo to pay for the unlicensed period in which it used Nokia’s smartphone technology.

WIPR has not seen the ruling, which is applicable only in China and followed Oppo’s petition to set lower royalty rates in China for Nokia’s SEPs for 2G to 5G technologies.

While the court shared the judgment with both parties it did not publish it, but Guangdong-based Oppo has today (December 14) claimed in a Chinese newspaper that the court favoured its position.

According to the Alibaba-owned South China Morning Post, the Chongqing court “supports Oppo’s petition to set lower royalty rates for Nokia’s standard essential patents for 5G technology”.

Finland-headquartered Nokia says it plans to appeal the judgment, commenting that it “represents only one view”.

In a statement, Nokia told WIPR: “The issuance of the Chongqing judgement shows that Oppo has an obligation to pay Nokia and that Oppo needs to make payments for the whole unlicensed period.

“All along our aim has been to resolve the dispute fairly and we remain focused on that goal. While we prefer not to comment on the Chongqing court’s judgment in detail at this time, we note that its impact is limited to the Chinese jurisdiction only and as such represents only one view.

“Courts outside of China have confirmed that Oppo is in breach of its commitments as a user of Nokia’s technology in open standards. Courts outside of China have also confirmed that Nokia has made fair offers to Oppo, whereas Oppo has not made fair offers and is engaged in delaying tactics.

“With everything that we are seeing we remain confident of our position in the overall dispute and are hoping to resolve the matter soon.”

Chongqing decision

After the December 4 decision, both sides claimed it was in their favour. Oppo issued a statement saying that it “welcomed” the judgment.

“Oppo is willing to comply with and execute the court's decision regarding the global FRAND licensing fees for Nokia's patents, hoping to actively resolve the patent licensing fee dispute with Nokia.”

It added: “Oppo is hoping Nokia can also comply with and execute the Chongqing court's decision, so that both parties can promptly return to constructive negotiations. By resolving this dispute, we hope to pave the way for the industry to establish a consensus on aggregated licensing fees for 5G standard essential patents.”

Meanwhile, Nokia said it hoped the ruling would mean “OPPO now comes to the negotiation table and accepts its obligations to pay fair compensation for the use of Nokia's innovations”.

Cross-border dispute

This is the latest twist in the multi-jurisdictional patent clash between the two smartphone manufacturers, which began when Oppo’s licence agreement with Nokia ended in June 2021.

The pair were unable to reach an agreement on new terms and Nokia sued in various courts, including Germany, France, Brazil, the UK and other jurisdictions globally.

In July, for example, Nokia prevailed against Oppo in a UK ‘willingness trial’, in which the High Court ruled that Oppo must decide between committing to a licence based on FRAND terms, or face an injunction for the infringement of two of Nokia’s patents.

The rivals now await a potentially game-changing decision in India, after Nokia said last month that it was open to the New Delhi Court stepping in to set a FRAND rate that would be global.

This could mean that lawsuits filed in the UK and China would be withdrawn.

The Chongqing court’s judgment was the world's first global licensing rate judgment for 5G-related SEPs made by a Chinese court.

WIPR has approached Oppo for comment, with no immediate response.

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