Nokia files Patent Exhaustion Case against Qualcomm in Germany and the Netherlands

(Business News & Technology News, 20 Mar 2007)

Nokia announced today that it has filed complaints against Qualcomm in Germany and the Netherlands requesting declarations that Qualcomm's European patents are exhausted in respect of products placed on the European Union (EU) market with a Qualcomm license, in this instance chipsets supplied by Texas Instruments. Texas Instruments and Qualcomm are publicly known to have entered into a so called Patent Portfolio License in 2000.

If Nokia's claim succeeds, Qualcomm would be prevented in Europe from enforcing its respective patents in relation to Nokia handsets incorporating such chipsets.

The complaints were filed in the Regional Court of Mannheim (Germany) and in the Hague District Court (the Netherlands); both courts have substantial experience in patent matters within the EU.

Since the early 90's Nokia has invested approximately €30 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios with over 11,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of GSM technologies, and its evolution to WCDMA, which is also demonstrated by Nokia's strong patent position in these technologies.

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