Nokia Wins One Round in Ongoing Qualcomm Battle
Nokia has won one, of many rounds of the ongoing patent battle with Qualcomm after the USA's International Trade Commission (ITC) said that it will not review Administrative Law Judge Paul J. Luckern's initial determination that Nokia's GSM/GPRS/EDGE-only handsets do not infringe three Qualcomm patents. The action relates to 2G products and is not related to Nokia's WCDMA or "3G" products that are at issue in other cases.
Qualcomm says that it will decide whether to appeal the ITC decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Qualcomm filed its complaint on June 9, 2006 alleging infringement by Nokia of six Qualcomm patents. Prior to the hearing, which began on September 10, 2007, Qualcomm voluntarily withdrew three of the six patents from its complaint. The remaining three patents relate to an invention Qualcomm claims it made when developing CDMA technology. Qualcomm declared the three remaining patents as essential to the GSM standard and subsequently attempted to withdraw its declaration on one of those patents.
"While Qualcomm is disappointed with the Commission's decision, we are focusing on the recent consolidation of the arbitration with the case in Delaware. We believe that the consolidation will resolve many important contract disputes between Nokia and Qualcomm more quickly and efficiently," said Don Rosenberg, general counsel of Qualcomm. "The consolidation will bring these disputes before one of the most respected courts in the country and we are preparing for the tentative trial date of July 21, 2008."
Nokia applauded the decision in a statement, saying: "Nokia has been informed today that the ITC Commission has decided that there is no need to review Judge Luckern's initial determination," adding that "Qualcomm's strategy of pursuing lawsuits around the world against Nokia continues to be rejected."
Posted to the site on 28th February 2008
