Nokia responds to Qualcomm allegations

Nokia is not very happy with Qualcomm right now. Qualcomm has filed a complaint for alleged patent infringement concerning 12 essential patents against Nokia, but Nokia only learned about it from a Qualcomm press release and say that they still have not seen a copy of the complaint. Because they have yet to see the details of the complaint, Nokia will not yet comment substantively on the claims.

According to the press release from Nokia “Nokia is disappointed Qualcomm has taken this step given they have yet to engage in any licensing negotiations concerning these matters. With respect to the patents alleged to be essential to the GSM/GPRS/EDGE standards, Qualcomm has a duty to license those patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Qualcomm has not provided Nokia with any proposed terms for a license in compliance with its obligations.”

Companies with essential patents must agree to license those patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Nokia contends that it is unusual for a company to instigate litigation without first discussing those terms. Prior to this problem, Nokia and five other companies had asked the European Commission to investigate Qualcomm’s licensing practices.

Once more information is available we will know more about what is going on in this case. It has the makings of an ugly fight between large companies. Don’t worry, you won’t be losing your Nokia GSM phones any time soon.