Apple won’t have to pay up for infringing one of Conversant Wireless Licensing SARL’s wireless communications technology patents because the patent’s original owner, Nokia Corp., didn’t disclose it in a timely fashion to European telecom regulators, a California federal court has ruled, reports Law360.
In 2017 Nokia sued Apple in Germany and the U.S. for patent infringement. “Since agreeing (to) a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple’s products,” Nokia said.
For the past five years (as if 2017), Apple had paid Nokia a small royalty for the use of its patents. However, that deal expired on Dec. 31, 2016, and Nokia wanted Apple to keep paying for that portfolio, and demanded that Apple license additional patents. Apple refused to pay Nokia’s price and accused it of extortion.
Apple claims Nokia and its patent partners, which include Acacia Research and Conversant Intellectual Property Management, have colluded to raise patent prices in violation of federal antitrust law. The tech giant accuses Nokia of trying to monopolize the market in wireless technology.
