Nokia Counter-Sues Over Qualcomm Patents

Nokia says that it has responded to the Qualcomm lawsuit filed in the Western District of Wisconsin on 2 April, 2007. Nokia says that it remains confident that its products do not infringe either of the two Qualcomm patents-in-suit and asserts that both patents are invalid.

Nokia also filed, in the same court, patent counter assertions against Qualcomm for its infringement of six Nokia implementation patents used in Qualcomm GSM/WCDMA and CDMA2000 chipsets. These six patents are not essential for the practice of standards, however they provide substantial benefits when used.

In its previous litigation filings Qualcomm has sought injunctions against Nokia. Therefore, Nokia is seeking damages and also an injunction against Qualcomm's infringing chipsets.

"Over the past 19 months Qualcomm has filed 11 patent litigation cases against Nokia seeking damages and injunctions," said Rick Simonson, chief financial officer, Nokia. "Nokia has now filed its first counter action to address Qualcomm's unauthorized use of Nokia technology. We will continue to defend ourselves and exercise all rights according to our extensive IPR portfolio."

The implementation patents cited in the Nokia counterclaim filing relate primarily to multi-band/multi-mode technologies, that allow seamless and transparent roaming for consumers, and direct conversion technologies that reduce handset and chipset size, cost and power consumption. These technologies have had a significant role in the success of Nokia devices. Qualcomm, through its unauthorized use of Nokia patents, has copied these innovations and made them available to its chipset customers."

Posted to the site on 24th May 2007