Nokia wins UK Willingness Trial against Oppo, Oppo to either commit to a UK Frand or accept an injunction

The fuss between two very popular smartphone companies- Nokia and Oppo has been going on since the year 2021 after the multi-year patent deal ended between the two. All the controversy started when Nokia sued Oppo in regard to the Chinese smartphone maker using its Wi-Fi patents. This is because Oppo denied to pay compensation to Nokia for using its intellectual properties. The complaint was filed across Europe in which Oppo was accused of infringement of 4G/LTE and 5G SEP and an implementation patent relating to the generation of a power supply signal for a power amplifier. Previously Nokia pushed out Oppo from the German market due to these allegations.

While in the year 2022 UK High Court also handed Nokia its win over Oppo though it was said that Oppo might appeal to the UK court once again regarding this case. As expected the Chinese smartphone company initiated a trial in order to avoid a UK Frand trial and an injunction on Nokia’s SEP and implementation patent that it has already been adjudged to infringe.

As claimed by Oppo, under the ETSI IPR policy the company was entitled to rely on benefits from Nokia’s undertaking to ETSI to allow it to be treated as a licensee. The court found out that Oppo was not a willing licensee but Nokia was a willing licensor in this case. Once again making Nokia win, earlier Courts in Germany, the UK, Netherlands, Brazil, and India have also taken the decision in favor of Nokia.

Regarding the win in UK Trial, a Nokia spokesperson said, “Oppo has been unwilling to renew its license on fair and reasonable terms or resolve the matter amicably and has used our technology without making any royalty payments for two years. Once again we encourage Oppo to play by the rules, and like its competitors, agree on a license on fair and reasonable terms, rather than to continue operating without one.”

In the next hearing which is expected to take place in September, Oppo must either commit to a UK-determined Frand license or accept an injunction and leave the market.

Although two days back, the French court ruled the case in favor of Oppo denying Nokia its compensation after which it was said that the case in Germany which was won by Nokia might be relooked.