According to a latest report from FOSS patents, Nokia may be pretty close to getting its first Android patent license deal. Nokia had sued Viewsonic in a German regional court for patent infringement claims. Now, counsel for ViewSonic confirmed to the German court today that a deal is being worked out. The judge presiding over the trials, Judge Dr. Holger Kircher, raised the settlement question after the merits of two Nokia patent infringement claims against ViewSonic had been discussed at length. Even, Nokia’s lead counsel in various German cases, confirmed that talks are ongoing and that both sides are willing to strike a deal.
That will certainly be a good start for Nokia as it will allow them to take more Android manufacturers to task. According the report HTC is going to be the next, as in a week from today the Mannheim Regional Court may very well grant Nokia an injunction against the Taiwanese device maker. The reason behind this is a Nokia patent to which HTC couldn’t deny infringement. Hence either it will face injunction or will have to strike a deal with Nokia. Read more,
Based on what Judge Dr. Holger Kircher of the Mannheim Regional Court indicated at a trial today, Nokia appears quite likely to win a German patent injunction against HTC on March 19 over EP0673175 on “reduction of power consumption in a mobile station”. Rather than face exclusion from the largest market in Europe, HTC could enter into a settlement agreement and agree to pay royalties to Nokia, which may very well happen between now and the scheduled Mannheim ruling, or shortly thereafter.
This is great news for Nokia both at financial and operational level, not so much for Google and Android manufacturers. But given the level of copying and IPR stealing Nokia have faced from many Android manufacturers it will be sweet return on investment in innovations !!
Thanks Riff Raff for the Tip. Cheers !!
