Editor? /? Huang Da road
Design? /? Du? triumphant
Design? /? Bloomberg? Author? Karin. Matussek
Finnish company Nokia won court support in the patent dispute with Daimler, which is conducive to Nokia's rights protection in the field of automobile mobile technology.
A judge in Mannheim, Germany, said on August 18 that Daimler infringed Nokia's mobile technology patent. The car manufacturer's brands include Mercedes-Benz.
The core issue involved in the judge's ruling is how to authorize the mobile communication system as the standard function of most modern cars.
For Nokia, these issues are crucial. Nokia's annual revenue from licensing is1400 million euros (about RMB115.7 billion yuan).
Nokia said that the court confirmed that the company was granting the necessary patents for cellular standards (standard-essential? Patents? SEP) took reasonable action in licensing, while Daimler used Nokia's technology without authorization.
The dispute between Nokia and Daimler highlights the extensive struggle between technology companies and the automobile industry over the patent royalties of technologies such as navigation system, vehicle communication and autonomous driving.
Daimler said in an e-mailed statement: "We can't understand the judgment of the Mannheim court and will appeal."
The court said that Daimler supported Nokia because it was unwilling to comply with the so-called SEP current regulations.
"Facts show that Daimler and its supporters are unwilling to get permission in this case," the court said in a statement.
This ruling may allow Nokia to implement a lock-up order to prevent Daimler from selling cars in Germany, but if Nokia does so, it will need to provide 7 billion euros of collateral. If the lock-up order is overturned after Daimler's appeal, these funds will be used as compensation. Daimler said that Nokia is not expected to seek to issue a sales ban.
Jenny Lucander, President of Nokia Technologies (Jenni? Lukander) said in a statement: "Today's judgment is an important recognition of Nokia innovators' long-term work in the engineering field, and it also emphasizes the important principle that innovators should get fair returns. We hope that Daimler can now assume its obligations and obtain the license on reasonable terms. "
European automobile manufacturers rely on this technology to realize the electronic interconnection of automobiles. Nokia tried to charge a fee for each car, instead of providing license to auto parts manufacturers to produce parts. Therefore, some suppliers, including China and Bosch, supported Daimler in the lawsuit.
Because mobile connection is becoming more and more important in almost all products and industries, the judgment of the case may have an impact on the Internet of Things, so outside the automobile industry, this case has also received close attention.
German Federal Cartel Office (Federal? Cartel? Office) in June asked judges in Mannheim to seek the guidance of the European Court of Justice before ruling. This rare move shows that the case has a great influence. The judge in Mannheim rejected this request on August 8, 2008 18.
Nokia has sued Daimler in three German courts, involving mobile technology patent portfolio. The court in Mannheim rejected a similar lawsuit filed by Nokia in February this year, but reserved two other lawsuits for adjudication.
Nokia has also filed lawsuits in Munich and Dü sseldorf. There are eight similar lawsuits, and the judgment will be announced on September 5. Daimler also filed a lawsuit in another court, seeking to declare Nokia's patent invalid.
Nokia wants Daimler to pay the patent fee according to the number of cars sold, but Daimler thinks the fee is too high. The company wants Nokia to license the technology to equipment suppliers who integrate mobile devices into cars, and then charge Daimler.
Some suppliers of the company, such as Daimler and Continental, have asked the European Commission to review Nokia's behavior and declare that the Finnish company has abused its market influence. Auto parts manufacturers also believe that their business model is at risk, so they joined the lawsuit and supported Daimler to sue Nokia.
Continental Airlines expressed its willingness to buy the license at a reasonable price, but accused Nokia of refusing to reach an agreement. The manufacturer of this part has sued Nokia in the United States and requested the relevant executive agencies of the European Union to intervene in early 20 19.
Continental said in a statement that considering the judgment of Mannheim District Court, the intervention of the European Commission seems to be more important than ever.
Nokia previously said that its licensing model has been accepted by other automakers such as BMW and Volkswagen.
The winner of patent litigation must weigh the risks of enforcing the award, including the possibility of huge compensation if the ban is overturned after appeal. This is why the court asked the winning party to set aside a large sum of money before allowing the enforcement of the sales ban.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.