A few days ago, the District Court of Mannheim, Germany ruled that OPPO infringed Nokia's patents and granted Nokia a cease and desist order against OPPO, which means that OPPO and OnePlus devices may be banned in Germany.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of OPPO responded to Times Finance and said that some products will be suspended in Germany.
According to a report by European patent media JUVE Patent, the cease-and-desist order involves two standard essential patents (SEPs), EP 29 81 103 and EP 32 20 562. OPPO products using these two technologies will no longer be sold in Germany.In this regard, OPPO once raised an objection, but it was rejected by the District Court of Mannheim, Germany.
A Nokia spokesperson responded to the media saying that OPPO uses Nokia's patented technology in its smartphones and sells them illegally without a license.After extensive negotiations, OPPO still refused to reach a licensing agreement on fair terms.
Regarding this matter, Times Finance interviewed the relevant person in charge of OPPO. The other party said: "The company firmly opposes unreasonably high fees for patents, and firmly opposes the malicious behavior of coercing licensees to negotiate and accept unreasonably high license fees through litigation."
He also mentioned that OPPO respects intellectual property rights and advocates reasonable fees, advocates the settlement of intellectual property disputes between licensors and licensees through friendly negotiation, and respects the value of patents.
"Users can continue to use their OPPO products, get software updates and services," said the relevant person in charge of OPPO.
Times Finance has learned that the patent dispute between Nokia and OPPO begins with the renewal of a cross-licensing agreement that ends in 2021.In Germany, since 2021, Nokia has sued OPPO over 9 SEPs and 5 implementation patents, and OPPO has sued Nokia over 8 5G patents.
Behind this is the worldwide dispute over patent licensing rates and conditions in the communications industry.In the Netherlands, OPPO sued the court to invalidate Nokia patents, and Nokia filed several infringement lawsuits.
JUVE Patent reported that in mid-June, the District Court of Mannheim, Germany ruled in favor of Nokia in a patent dispute over EP 17 04 731. The patent protects a technology that scans wifi connections. OPPO appealed, but the court did not reject it. No new ruling has been made.
Times Finance learned that OPPO is relatively strong in overseas smartphone markets such as Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. It has won the top market share in many countries, but it has limited influence in the smartphone market in Germany and even Europe, and is working hard.
According to data from research institute Canalys, in the third quarter of 2021, OPPO’s shipments in the German smartphone market increased by 237%. Although the growth rate is unparalleled, its volume is relatively small, ranking fourth among mobile phone brands, second only to Apple. , Samsung, Xiaomi.
During the same period, Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi accounted for 32%, 29%, and 23% of the German smartphone shipments, respectively, and OPPO accounted for only 3%.In the first quarter of this year, in the entire European market, OPPO's shipments accounted for 4%, ranking fifth, surpassed by realme.
OPPO only entered the European market in 2018, later than Xiaomi.In 2020, OPPO set up its Western European headquarters in Germany, and then took the lead in promoting the commercialization of 5G terminals in Europe with its partners. At present, its development in Europe will undoubtedly be overshadowed by Nokia's patent lawsuit.
The "Global 5G Patent Activity Report (2022)" of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that Nokia's patent family accounts for 7.6%, and the total 5G patent cost of the entire device is 40 euros, equivalent to 271 yuan, that is, each 5G mobile phone needs to be built. To Nokia 271 yuan patent fee.
Nokia’s financial report shows that in 2021, the patent licensing business will bring Nokia’s revenue of 1.502 billion euros, or about 10.2 billion yuan, and the company’s net sales in the same period will be about 22.2 billion euros.(Wang Ting)
