Nokia wins UK 'willingness trial' in FRAND showdown

Decision marks latest leg of long-running patent war with Chinese rival | Opponent faces a choice between a licensing agreement or an injunction.

Nokia has prevailed against Oppo in a UK ‘willingness trial’ held today, July 26, the Finnish telecoms multinational has confirmed.

Justice Richard Meade ruled that Oppo will have to decide between committing to a licence based on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, or face an injunction for the infringement of two of Nokia’s patents.

Injunction threat

In November 2022, the High Court of England and Wales held that Oppo has infringed one of Nokia’s implementation patents relating to the generation of a power supply signal for a power amplifier.

Two months later, it also determined that Oppo had infringed one of Nokia’s standards for 4G/LTE and 5G. The court also found that both patents are valid.

Nokia said that it had won all of its arguments presented during today's proceedings.

Commenting on the decision, a Nokia spokesperson said: “We welcome the decision by the UK High Court, which like courts around the world, has found that OPPO is not playing by the rules.

“OPPO has been unwilling to renew its licence on fair and reasonable terms or resolve the matter amicably and has used our technology without making any royalty payments for two years.

“In addition to the latest ruling, courts in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Brazil, and India have all found in Nokia’s favour. Once again, we encourage OPPO to play by the rules, and like its competitors, agree to a licence on fair and reasonable terms, rather than continue to operate without one.”

‘Not a willing licensee’

Oppo claimed that it is a beneficiary under the IP rights policy established by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and that it was an existing licensee under French law. This meant, it argued, that it should not face an injunction.

However, the court considered that Oppo was not a willing licensee, finding that “its willingness is qualified because it insists on terms set on earlier proceedings” held in a Chinese court.

It found that Nokia is a willing licensor “because it has made an unqualified commitment to [the] offer that if Oppo wants, [it can] grant a licence on whatever FRAND terms [the UK] court decides”.

This approach, added the court, “meets the standard of willingness decided in Unwired”.

The next step in the long-running legal battle between the two companies will involve a  hearing in which Oppo must either commit to a UK-determined FRAND licence or accept an injunction and leave the market has yet to be scheduled.

This is expected to take place in September, said Nokia.

WIPR has approached Oppo for comment.

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