From Nokia 20-F - This lawsuit, and outcome will have the biggest impact on IDCC and Qualcomm going forward, as Nokia attempts to impose their "self-declared" limit to total FRAND royalties to a cap of 5 percent. What gets me is that they pulled this percentage out of their BUT ts, taking it down from about thirty percent in total for GSM - who in their right minds thinks that this amount is what defines FRAND? - and when lawsuits are still settling for individual companies over just one or a few patents at the 5.5 percent level. There is no basis whatsoever for such a low royalty cap, and the only people who throw it around are industry consultants paid to spew this kind of crap.
In August 2006, Nokia initiated an action in Delaware Chancery Court seeking a declaration that
Qualcomm had breached its licensing obligations concerning declared essential GSM/GPRS/EDGE and
WCDMA patents by failing to offer fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory
(‘‘FRAND’’) terms and
asked the Court to declare that injunctions are unavailable for patents that Qualcomm has voluntarily
declared essential to the ETSI standard setting organization. Nokia has also asked the Delaware Court
to enjoin Qualcomm from requesting injunctive relief in the actions Qualcomm has filed outside the
United States involving patents it voluntarily declared essential to ETSI. In addition, Nokia has
requested the Court to specify the proper framework for determining the FRAND terms and to order
specific performance requiring Qualcomm to negotiate in good faith based on the FRAND framework
as determined by the Court. Qualcomm has moved to dismiss this action on multiple bases, which
Nokia has refuted, and the parties are currently waiting for the Court to issue its ruling. Trial is
scheduled for July or August 2007. Nokia will continue to vigorously defend its rights in this action.
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