Qualcomm says that it has commenced patent infringement litigation in the UK against Nokia. The proceedings, issued in the Patents Court of the High Court of England and Wales, allege infringement of two patents by Nokia in the United Kingdom in relation to mobile devices which are capable of operating in accordance with the GPRS and/or EDGE standards but not having a capability to operate with CDMA technology.
The proceedings seek an injunction against Nokia, as well as damages in relation to phones already sold.
This litigation is a geographic extension of the patent infringement litigation filed by Qualcomm against Nokia in the United States on November 4, 2005. Both cases involve alleged infringement of Qualcomm's patents by Nokia's GSM/GPRS/EDGE products.
For its part, Nokia sasy that it is not surprised that Qualcomm has once again chosen to litigate. Nokia is yet to receive a copy of the complaint or analyze the details; therefore, Nokia cannot comment on the substantive aspects of the claims. Nokia does not believe that Qualcomm is entitled to an injunction.
Nokia says that it will analyze Qualcomm's claims when it obtains the complaint and will defend itself to ensure that its rights are fully protected.
Tal Liani, research analyst with Merrill Lynch said in a research note that he believes Qualcomm's law suit should be taken in the context of putting pressure on Nokia to renew the commercial licensing agreement which expires in April 2007.
"To bolster its bargaining power in this renewal process, Qualcomm mentioned at its recent analyst day gathering that it may pressure Nokia by leveraging certain GSM related patents that have so far not been enforced. There was even mention of dropping the enforcement of these patents altogether should Nokia extend the royalty agreement."
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