Nokia claims Nexus 7 treads on its WiFi patents, wants a little dough for that Jelly Bean (updated: Nokia statement)
We're fans of the Nexus 7. Nokia, however, isn't quite so keen. It claims to The Inquirer that the ASUS and Google joint project is using Nokia WiFi patents without a license. The two companies never even asked, Nokia argues. As it's a question of standards-based patents, it's more likely that Nokia will simply cough politely and ask for a royalty rather than launch into yet another legal battle -- still, it's not exactly a minor accusation. We've reached out to both ASUS and Google for comment, but we can't imagine that either will be happy with the potential hit to their respective bottom lines. Sending a slice of what's left to Finland could be more than a bit painful when that $199 Jelly Bean tablet is already operating on virtually non-existent margins.
Update: We also reached out to Nokia to get an official statement on the matter and it had this to say:
Nokia has more than 40 licensees, mainly for its standards essential patent portfolio, including most of the mobile device manufacturers. Neither Google nor Asus is licensed under our patent portfolio. Companies who are not yet licensed under our standard essential patents should simply approach us and sign up for a license.
