Nokia loses UK appeal against IPCom's pointless patent posturing
Nokia has had its appeal dismissed in the UK High Court in its Europe-wide patent battle against IPCom. The court found that the handset maker had infringed the German firm's 3G patent, but only on the Nokia N96 -- a phone the company no longer sells. IPCom can now request a ban on all British sales of the 2008 handset, a move that will probably affect tens of people. We've got an official response from Nokia's Mark Durrant after the break.
[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
"Nokia is pleased that the UK Appeal Court's ruling will not affect our ongoing sales in the UK and does not affect the European Patent Office's earlier decision to revoke the entire patent family.
The decision of the EPO also revokes IPCom's UK patent, and the UK Appeal Court's decision does not overturn the earlier UK High Court ruling that Nokia's current products do not infringe the patent. UK operators have also confirmed that the feature described in the patent has never been implemented in their UMTS/3G networks.
Since the UK High Court's judgment in June 2011, further IPCom patents have been found invalid, meaning now that of 63 IPCom patents which have so far come to judgment, none has been found valid as granted. Nokia believes that IPCom needs to recognize its position and end its unrealistic demands for what remains of this significantly diminished portfolio. In the meantime, we will continue to challenge other IPCom patents."
