Nokia accuses Qualcomm of violating standards obligations

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:33

IT Industry - Strategy

Nokia has retaliated to a GSM & UMTS intellectual property attack from Qualcomm, accusing Qualcomm of violating written contractual obligations to international standards setting organisations.
Nokia has filed a complaint against Qualcomm with the Delaware Court of Chancery in the US asking the Court to order Qualcomm to "abide by its written contractual obligations to international standards setting organisations to license intellectual property essential to GSM and UMTS technology standards on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms." Additionally, Nokia is seeking a Court order to affirm that Qualcomm is not entitled to injunctive relief in relation to alleged infringement of patents declared essential to a standard.

The move is in response to a three separate legal actions against Nokia initiated by Qualcomm. The most recent, in June, was with the US International Trade Commission where Qualcomm requested injunctions prohibiting the import of Nokia phones which, it alleged, contained technology subject to Qualcomm patents which Nokia has not licensed.

That move followed Qualcomm filing suit against Nokia in the US in November 2005 and in the UK in May 2006 over alleged breach of several patents.

Nokia says its action is a defensive measure "to ensure there is a consolidated forum for addressing these issues and is asking the Court to enforce Qualcomm's obligation to negotiate royalties on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms."