After OPPO and OnePlus , Vivo prepares to halt sales in Germany following lawsuit from Nokia
Last year in Germany, Nokia accused the other competing companies of using its patented technology for processing 4G and 5G signals without paying for a license. Regarding this accusation, Nokia won an injunction to halt sales in a German court due to which the smartphone maker 0PP0 and its subsidiary OnePlus had to halt sales of smartphones and smartwatches in Germany as they lost the patent lawsuit against Nokia.
The reason for halting the sales told by OPPO and OnePlus was Nokia’s demand for an unreasonably high fee. After these top smartphone companies, this patent lawsuit seems to hit Vivo also. As of now, Vivo has not halted its sales in Germany.
On their website, Vivo has released an official statement regarding this matter in which the company clearly mentioned that they tried to negotiate with Nokia about renewing the mutual licenses but so far there has been no mutual agreement between the two companies. According to Vivo, Nokia failed to fulfill its obligation to offer a license on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory ) terms.
Vivo had to take this drastic step on the decision of the District Court of Manheim and now the company may suspend its sale and marketing of the products which is concerned through the official channels of Vivo Germany. Though the company has assured that they will try to negotiate with Nokia on this matter and will also appeal this decision of the court in order to come to a solution. Also, Vivo has promised its consumers to serve a long-term commitment in the future and they can still rely on the company’s service.
Statement From Nokia
The district court of Mannheim has ruled that Vivo uses patented technology from Nokia in its smartphones and sells them illegally without a license. The court also found that Nokia acted fairly. We welcome this ruling, which once again confirms the strength of our patent portfolio, and call on Vivo to honor its commitments and agree to a license on fair terms.”
