Nokia and Qualcomm in a New Dispute

Nokia made public today the fact that a patent counter assertion was filed by the company against Qualcomm in the Eastern District of Texas Court. This has to do with Qualcomm's unapproved use of 6 Nokia implementation patents in the BREW and MediaFLO businesses. After in past lawsuits Qualcomm sought injunctions against Nokia, now it's time for the Finnish company to look for payback.

The MediaFLO and BREW technologies are based a lot on Nokia patents, for instance in allowing the download of applications with BREW or keeping a high broadcast quality of service within MediaFLO. In addition, officials from Nokia declared another group of patents to TIA (the Telecommunication Industry Association) as fundamental for the FLO air interface integrated in MediaFLO.

Tero Ojanperä, chief technology officer at Nokia, said: "Nokia has a strong history of innovation in IP broadcast television and mobile download environments predating Qualcomm's activities. This is another example where Qualcomm has effectively copied Nokia's innovations. We believe that, for MediaFLO to evolve and for BREW to remain viable, Qualcomm needs access to these and many other patented Nokia inventions."

The IPR portfolio that Nokia has built in the last 15 years, through large investments in development and research, is one of the most extended and powerful in the wireless industry. Therefore, Nokia is decided to protect its intellectual property against unauthorized use and infringements.

These patent counter assertions are Nokia's answer to the lawsuit that Qualcomm filed on April 2 this year in the Eastern District of Texas. In that litigation the US-based company filed a case directed solely at Nokia GSM cellular phones. Nokia strongly believes that Qualcomm's patents are not valid, because the supposed inventions were published or patented before Qualcomm by other companies, including Nokia. What Nokia also believes is that its products do not contravene any patent.