Nokia v. QUALCOMM: Eastern District of Texas Court
>> Nokia Asks Texas Court To Stop Qualcomm's Unauthorized Use of Nokia's MediaFLO and BREW Patents
Nokia Press Release
Espoo, Finland
June 11, 2007
nokia.com
Nokia today announced it has filed patent counter assertions against Qualcomm in the Eastern District of Texas Court. The filing relates to Qualcomm's unauthorized use of 6 Nokia implementation patents in its MediaFLO and BREW businesses. Qualcomm has in previous litigation sought injunctions against Nokia and therefore in this case Nokia is seeking both damages and injunctive relief.
"Nokia has a strong history of innovation in IP broadcast television and mobile download environments predating Qualcomm's activities," said Tero Ojanperä, chief technology officer, Nokia. "This is another example where Qualcomm has effectively copied Nokia's innovations. We believe that, for MediaFLO to evolve and for BREW to remain viable, Qualcomm needs access to these and many other patented Nokia inventions."
Nokia patents are at the core of MediaFLO and BREW technologies, for example in ensuring the broadcast quality of service within MediaFLO and in enabling the download of applications with BREW. Nokia has also recently declared another set of patents to the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) as essential for the FLO air interface used in MediaFLO.
Nokia has built one of the strongest and broadest IPR portfolios in the wireless industry over the last 15 years through extensive investments in research and development. Nokia will continue to vigorously defend itself against the infringement and unauthorized use of its intellectual property.
Nokia's patent counter assertions are part of its response to the Qualcomm lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas, on 2 April, 2007. In that lawsuit Qualcomm's three patents-in-suit allegedly involve certain types of mobile software download and execution environments. Nokia is confident that the Qualcomm patents are invalid, for example, based on the alleged inventions having been patented or published by other companies, including Nokia, before Qualcomm. In addition, Nokia believes its products do not infringe any of the patents. ... ###
>> INTERVIEW: Nokia Hopes To Resolve Qualcomm Licensing Issues
Daniel Thomas
Dow Jones (London)
June 11, 2007
Nokia Corp. (NOK), the world's largest mobile phone maker, still hopes to resolve its licensing wrangles with U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), despite Monday launching a lawsuit against it in a Texan court.
Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires Monday, Nokia's Chief Technology Officer Tero Ojanpera said despite the ongoing negotiations Nokia wouldn't let Qualcomm unlawfully use its technology.
"We're negotiating in good faith and trying to get a resolution, but the fact is that the situations are still apart," said Ojanpera. "What we've said today is that we're asking the courts to stop their (Qualcomm's) unauthorized use of our technology."
Earlier Monday, Nokia said it had filed a counter lawsuit against Qualcomm in the Eastern District of Texas. The Finnish handset firm says Qualcomm is using Nokia's patented technology in its MediaFlo mobile television and Brew products. It wants Qualcomm to pay damages and wants an injunction stopping sales.
"What's going on here is Qualcomm has affectively copied Nokia's innovation without authorization. We're seeking both damages and an injunction," said Ojanpera.
"We have a long history in the broadcasting TV area which goes back to the early 1990s and pre-date Qualcomm's patents," he said.
Qualcomm and Nokia have been embroiled in a long-running legal dispute regarding how much Nokia should pay San Diego-based Qualcomm for using its CDMA and WCDMA mobile technology in phones.
CDMA, or code division multiple access, is a common technology standard for mobile phones, primarily in the U.S. WCDMA is its next-generation version, allowing greater functionality such as video calls and faster music transfers, and is more commonly used in phones around the world.
Ojanpera said Nokia was forced into its second counter-lawsuit against Qualcomm after finding the chipmakers claims, filed at the Texan court April 2, were without merit. Ojanpera said Nokia's intellectual property was being used in more than 200 million chipsets sold annually by Qualcomm.
"Today they (Qualcomm) have not been successful in their case and have withdrawn three filings from the original six they filed. We will continue to protect our intellectual property rights portfolio," he said. "They can't just take our technology. It's a two-way street and we're going to enforce it."
In May, Nokia filed its first lawsuit against Qualcomm in the Western District of Wisconsin in the U.S., claiming the California-based company had infringed six other patents by using the intellectual property in their mobile phone chipsets.
Part of the two companies' cross-licensing contract expired April 9.
Company Web site: nokia.com ###
>> 2nd UPDATE: Nokia Launches More Lawsuits Against Qualcomm
Daniel Thomas
Dow Jones
June 11, 2007
tinyurl.com
(This updates an item published at around 0809 adding Qualcomm executive comment.)
<snip lead-in>
... Qualcomm's European President Andrew Gilbert disputed Nokia's claims calling them "disappointing" and "predictable".
"Nokia might try and paint a picture that it's about the evolution of the industry, but it's more to do with them trying to maintain their 40% to 50% margins on handsets and stifle competition in the industry," said Gilbert. "We will continue to fight for a model that we believe gives greater competition in the market."
Gilbert added that Nokia's lawsuits could also be resulting from rival technologies that it is trying to commercialize in mobile TV and data downloads.
Qualcomm is still continuing to seek agreement in the dispute through an independent arbitration panel, said Gilbert.
CDMA, or code division multiple access, is a common technology standard for mobile phones, primarily in the U.S. WCDMA is its next-generation version, allowing greater functionality such as video calls and faster music transfers, and is more commonly used in phones around the world.
Last week Qualcomm was dealt a blow after the International Trade Commission imposed a partial ban on its import of third-generation, or 3G, phones using its microchips. This followed a separate patent dispute with rival chipset maker Broadcom Corp (BRCM). At 1210 GMT, Nokia shares traded up EUR0.12, or 0.6%, at EUR21.03. ###
- Eric - |
