A German company, IP-Com has sued Nokia for US$17.7 billion over claimed patent infringements. The lawsuit was filed at the end of last year in Mannheim, but was only confirmed yesterday after it was revealed in the Handelsblatt newspaper.
IP-Com holds around 160 patents, and the lawsuit is understood to involve six families of patents related to mobile communications. It is not clear at this time which specific patents are in dispute, although they are known to be patents originally filed by Bosch.
The company said that it had tried to negotiate a patent fee agreement with Nokia, but was unable to come to terms and chose to seek legal redress instead.
A spokesman for Nokia said the Finnish mobile phone maker believes the patents in the suit are invalid and have not been infringed. "This is far higher than anything we have heard before," the spokesman for the company said. "We will vigorously defend ourselves."
The private equity fund, Fortress Investment Group which owns 50% of IP-Com is funding the legal action.
The move could induce a case of Schadenfreude in some German politicians who have been boycotting Nokia after its decision to close its German handset factory. However, many German politicians also strongly dislike private equity firms - the infamous "locusts" comment from SDP Chairman Franz Müntefering for example - and here is a private equity firm preparing to sue the now disliked Nokia for a vast amount of money.
On the web: Handelsblatt
Posted to the site on 31st January 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/28984.php