Wants injunctions ruled illegal, and clarification on licensing terms
Nokia announced today that it has filed a complaint against Qualcomm with the Delaware Court of Chancery in the U.S. Nokia wants the Court to order Qualcomm to abide by its “written contractual obligations” to license intellectual property essential to GSM and UMTS technology standards on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. Additionally, Nokia is seeking a Court order to affirm that Qualcomm is not entitled togain injunctions against Nokia in relation to alleged infringement of patents on GSM technology.
Qualcomm has filed three separate legal actions against Nokia in U.S. Federal Court, a court in the United Kingdom and the U.S. International Trade Commission where it has requested injunctions against Nokia for alleged infringements of its GSM IPR.
Nokia says it is taking this action as a defensive measure to ensure there is a consolidated forum for addressing these issues and is asking the Court to enforce Qualcomm’s obligation to negotiate royalties on FRAND terms. Additionally, Nokia is asking the Court to affirm the key elements of FRAND, where the two companies to date have had differing views, to solidify a framework for future intellectual property licensing negotiations.
Nokia also says this action, whereby it is “seeking resolution through the Court” follows the European Telecommunications Standardization Institute (ETSI) dispute resolution process.