A patent infringement suit filed by BlackBerry has brought BlackBerry and Nokia in court to settle issues. The lawsuit demands royalties from Nokia for its mobile network products employing an industry-wide standard technology. Liquid radio software, Flexi Multiradio base station, and radio network controller are some of the Nokia products that attract the patent law for not just one, but 11 patents held by BlackBerry. This alleged infringement has now brought BlackBerry and Nokia in court before a federal court in Wilmington.
Companies including AT&T and T-Mobile are providing mobile network services and products for their respective LTE networks, according to the complaint filed by BlackBerry. BlackBerry added that Nokia continued to persist with encouraging the use of “standard-compliant” products without getting a license from BlackBerry.
BlackBerry and Nokia in court seeking compensation
BlackBerry is seeking compensation from Nokia for the unauthorized use of technology patented by BlackBerry. However, the lawsuit does not specify the amount of compensation that is sought. John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry meantime is working hard to explore new ways to generate revenue from BlackBerry’s technology, even as its smartphone sales have hit the nadirs. However, BlackBerry boasts of a huge basket of patents in wireless technology and has already negotiated a handful of licensing deals to extract maximum mileage from the IP asset. BlackBerry adds further that Nokia cannot feign ignorance of the patents since, in some of Nokia’s own applications for patents, the BlackBerry patents have been cited.
Patents transitioned from previous owners
The patents that brought BlackBerry and Nokia in court were owned previously by Nortel Networks. Nokia’s efforts to buy out Nortel’s business failed in 2009, says BlackBerry. Subsequently, BlackBerry bought the patents at $4.5 billion in the year 2011 out of Nortel’s bankruptcy. At that time BlackBerry was part of Rockstar Consortium which bought the patents. Members of the consortium then split up the patents and Microsoft and Apple were also among the recipients.
Patents cover 3GPP standards
BlackBerry’s contention is that the patents in question cover essential components of 3GPP which is a standard for mobile telecommunications and BlackBerry is keen to license the patents on reasonable and fair terms. However, blocking the use of the relevant innovations does not figure in the suit that has brought BlackBerry and Nokia in court.