Nokia Wants End to Qualcomm Patents
Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, said Monday it filed complaints against wireless technology company Qualcomm in Germany and the Netherlands.
The Finnish company requested declarations that Qualcomm's patents are exhausted on products sold in the European Union with a Qualcomm license. If the courts agree with Nokia, Qualcomm would not be able to enforce patents in Europe on Nokia handsets that use Texas Instruments chipsets.
Texas Instruments and Qualcomm entered into a so-called patent portfolio license in 2000, Nokia said.
Qualcomm makes money from selling chips and collecting licensing fees from Nokia and other wireless equipment manufacturers. It is embroiled in several legal and trade disputes with Nokia. The current licensing agreement expires April 9.
The complaints were filed in the Regional Court of Mannheim, Germany, and in the Hague District Court, the Netherlands.
Nokia shares closed up 1.8% at $22.06 on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
Nokia said it has invested some $40 billion in research and development, and has built one of the industry's biggest intellectual property rights portfolios with more than 11,000 patent families.
Last year, the United States International Trade Commission opened an investigation into alleged infringement of Qualcomm patents by Nokia. The investigation followed Qualcomm's charges that Nokia had infringed on six of its patents.
A judge overseeing the investigation ordered a stay of proceedings until further notice, Nokia said in February.
Qualcomm, based in San Diego, designs and manufactures digital processors that are central to cell phones and networks.
Nokia, based in Espoo near the Finnish capital, Helsinki, employs 68,000 people worldwide.
