Indian court may set FRAND rate in Nokia's SEP dispute
UK and China suits between smartphone rivals would be withdrawn under the proposal | Multi-jurisdictional litigation could be resolved in New Delhi.
Nokia has said it is open to the possibility of an Indian court stepping in to set a global fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) rate in its multi-jurisdictional clash with Oppo.
The High Court of New Delhi has responded to submissions made by the Finnish telecoms giant and its Chinese rival on whether they would be willing for the court to fix a global or India-specific FRAND rate—and abide by it.
In order for matters to proceed to an expedited trial, Nokia agreed that the court would fix a FRAND rate that would be global, not just for India as proposed by Oppo, and that suits filed in the UK and China would be withdrawn.
Justice Prathiba Singh also said that for matters to proceed for an expedited trial, it would need to be the suits asserting Nokia’s standard-essential patents (SEPs) and the implementation patent suits, rather than just the SEP suits as agreed by Nokia.
Oppo accepted this condition, with Nokia’s counsel wishing to seek instruction on the issue.
Justice Singh also stipulated that Oppo should “make deposits on similar terms as has been decided by the Division Bench” in Nokia Technologies v Guangdong Oppo.
In July this year, the Delhi High Court found in favour of Nokia in a patent infringement suit and ordered Oppo to deposit 23% to the court of the amount generated from infringing devices in India.
UK Injunction accepted
The discord between the two companies over FRAND rates has played out in courts in the UK, China and the EU, as well as India.
In September, Oppo agreed to accept an injunction imposed by the High Court of England and Wales following patent suits filed by Nokia.
When faced with the decision of the UK court setting a global FRAND rate, or an injunction, the Chinese manufacturer opted for the latter. As a result of that order, Oppo must issue withdrawal notices for all infringing products.
A Nokia spokesperson said: “Nokia does not wish to see Oppo exit the UK market, we just want Oppo to respect its obligations as a user of third-party technology and agree to a licence on fair terms. Nokia’s fair licence offer remains available to Oppo.”
WIPR has approached both Nokia and Oppo for comment.
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