Nokia steps up patent fight with RIM
November 28, 2012 10:47 pm
By Paul Taylor in New York
Nokia stepped up its patent dispute with Canadian rival Research In Motion, launching lawsuits in the UK, Canada and the US seeking to enforce a Swedish arbitration ruling against RIM.
The move could prevent the Canadian BlackBerry maker from selling WiFi-enabled devices until the two companies reach an agreement over royalties.
RIM claims its use of the WiFi wireless networking standard is covered by an existing licensing agreement it has with Nokia dating back to 2003. It sought arbitration in March last year after the two companies failed to reach a negotiated agreement.
“Research In Motion has worked hard to develop its leading-edge BlackBerry technology and has built an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio of its own,” the Canadian company said on Wednesday.
RIM, which, like Nokia, has seen its smartphone market share decline sharply in the face of competition from Apple’s iPhone and Android-based devices, added that it “will respond to Nokia’s petitions in due course”.
People close to the company cautioned that the arbitration ruling is unlikely to have any impact on the sale of existing BlackBerry devices – or the launch of next-generation BlackBerry 10 devices at the end of January – because Nokia still faces a potentially lengthy court fight to enforce the ruling. Most analysts believe RIM will still seek a negotiated settlement with Nokia, rather than risk a sales ban in the US, its largest market, or elsewhere.
Nokia, which has formed a close partnership with Microsoft to develop new smartphones based on the Windows Phone operating system in an effort to compete with Apple, Samsung, HTC and Google’s Motorola unit, has made no secret of its desire to increase its royalty income to help offset revenue declines in its phone business.
The Finnish company currently derives about $650m a year in revenues from its wireless patent portfolio, which experts say is one of the industry’s most extensive.
The smartphone market has been rocked by a series of patent disputes in recent years, including Apple’s successful suit against Samsung, which the Korean handset maker is challenging.
Other big patent portfolio holders include Ericsson and Qualcomm, while Google bolstered its own patent portfolio through the acquisition earlier this year of Motorola Mobility.
Nokia’s ADRs closed up 3 per cent at $3.27 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, while RIM shares, which have been particular volatile this week, made up early losses to close 3.5 per cent higher at $11.10 on the Nasdaq.
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