Electronics

According to the European media "JUVE Patent", Nokia (Nokia) recently sued OPPO and its subsidiary OnePlus for patent infringement in Germany. related infringing products.

It is reported that Nokia accused the companies of using its patented technology to process 4G and 5G signals without paying licensing fees, and won an injunction to stop sales in a German court on Friday.

As we all know, although Nokia has withdrawn from the mobile device market and licensed the brand to HMD, Nokia still holds a large number of communication technology patents by virtue of its accumulation in the field of communication and the past years in the mobile phone market.

The editor also learned that Nokia and OPPO have signed a patent licensing agreement in the past, but the agreement has recently expired. The two companies were in talks to renew the contract, but disagreements over price prevented an agreement from being reached.

It is reported that OPPO said: "The day after the 4G agreement between OPPO and Nokia expired, Nokia immediately filed a lawsuit with the court. They had previously asked for an unreasonably high renewal fee."

Currently, consumers can no longer buy smartphones or smartwatches from OnePlus stores in Germany. German consumers are also unable to buy any smartphones and smartwatches from OPPO's official website.

OnePlus chief Spenser Blank confirmed that the company had stopped sales in Germany and accused Nokia of demanding unreasonably high patent fees, the sources said. Spenser Blank pointed out that the company is currently actively seeking cooperation to resolve ongoing legal issues, and although OnePlus is currently suspending sales in Germany, the company remains committed to the German market.

On the other hand, "The Verge" also quoted a statement from OPPO spokesman Peter Manderfeld stating that the company did suspend official retail channels in Germany, and also believed that Nokia's patent fees were unreasonable.

In any case, although OPPO and OnePlus have suspended sales in Germany at present, the relevant statement also implies that they will continue to sell smartphones and smartwatches in Germany in the future, and may sell them through third-party distributors.

In fact, earlier this week, related news leaked. According to Wirtschaftswoche, OPPO and OnePlus phones are disappearing from the German region, at least for now. OPPO may withdraw completely from the German market, and other brands are also affected by the patent lawsuit. This could lead to key restrictions on German smartphones in the autumn and negatively affect price competition.

A court in Munich, Germany, on Friday banned sales of OPPO and OnePlus brands after Nokia filed a lawsuit against OPPO over patent issues.

It is reported that OPPO has responded very quickly, all references to their own smartphones have been removed from the German website, and the OnePlus online store has recently stopped selling any phones. However, the devices are still freely tradeable, so it remains to be seen what the outcome will be. International resellers such as Mediamarkt, Saturn or Amazon can source goods abroad, while Nokia can respond and demand customs seizures.

According to the OPPO Germany website, “There is currently no product information on our website. Users can continue to use OPPO products without restrictions, receive support, and of course receive all future updates.”

In any case, this is an important blow to OPPO. After Huawei was unable to produce 5G mobile phones, two Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, OPPO and vivo, wanted to take the opportunity to enter the European market, and Germany is one of the most important countries. OPPO has even occupied 1/10 of the German market share.

How can OPPO get rid of Nokia's patent blow? It is reported that Nokia wants OPPO to pay an extra 2.50 euros (about 17.2 yuan) for each smartphone sold. This is a huge expense. If OPPO sells 100 million units globally, it will have to pay about 1.72 billion yuan.

Of course, in addition to this, the patent lawsuit will also affect vivo, because Nokia has also sued the mobile phone brand, involving the necessary mobile phone patents for which Nokia has exclusive rights. Due to Germany's strict patent law, Nokia was able to successfully sue one after another. Wirtschaftswoche reports that OPPO wants to exit Germany entirely, because German sales account for 1% of its total profit and it is not worth obtaining a license for global sales.

Overall, if other European countries that Nokia is suing follow the German judgment, OPPO may even withdraw from the entire Western European market. In addition, industry experts believe that this will hurt consumers even more, as OPPO has about 10% market share in Germany, and the absence of OPPO and OnePlus could lead to key limitations in mobile phones. In addition to chip shortages, this could have a negative impact on prices, especially given that vivo phones may also be banned from German shelves before Christmas.