To print: Click here or Select File and then Print from your browser's menu

This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39169161,00.htm

Nokia patent claim quashed by Dutch court
One round to Qualcomm...

By Reuters

Published: Thursday 15 November 2007

A Dutch court has dismissed a patent-licensing complaint by Nokia against chip supplier Qualcomm.

Three judges at the court in The Hague ruled the court did not have jurisdiction to rule on Nokia's claims outside the Netherlands. They also ruled Nokia had not provided enough information on the specific patents in question for the court to provide a reasoned decision.

Nokia and Qualcomm have been in numerous legal disputes after a key cross-licensing agreement over technology patents expired in April, worrying investors on both side of Atlantic, with complaints filed in Germany, the Netherlands and the US.

Nokia noted the court dismissed the case based on the scope of claims made by Nokia, rather than the patent issue itself.

A Nokia spokeswoman said in a statement: "Nokia is confident that its substantive claim is well founded and is considering if it will appeal the decision."

The world's biggest mobile phone maker has said it should not have to pay for technology provided by Qualcomm, because Qualcomm's technology is already licensed to Texas Instruments - a supplier to Nokia of mobile-phone chips.

Qualcomm officials were not immediately available to comment.

A German court dismissed Nokia's case against Qualcomm last month on similar grounds.

Analysts estimate Nokia had been paying Qualcomm about $500m per year before the patent expired and wanted to cut the cost. Nokia says its patent portfolio is much stronger now than 15 years ago, when the original licensing deal was signed.