US import ban sought for Nokia phones

Qualcomm takes complaint to ITC

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A US company is seeking an import ban into the United States affecting mobile telephones manufactured by Nokia.
      The International Trade Commission is to hear a complaint by the chip manufacturer Qualcomm, which is accusing Nokia of a patent violation. Qualcomm is claiming that Nokia is violating a patent on GSM mobile phone technology, and on that basis, is calling on the ITC to impose a ban on the import and sale pf the Nokia phones.
      The process is made interesting by the fact that last spring the ITC ordered a ban on imports of Qualcomm's handsets using 3G telephone technology, saying that the company was in violation of patents owned by Broadcom.
      The decision of the Commission was seen as unexpectedly harsh by many observers, especially as a US company was involved.
      Nokia feels that it is in a strong position in the matter. A company spokesman says that Qualcomm is in a weak position with respect to patents in GSM technology - something that is reflected in the fact that the company has withdrawn three patents that were originally part of its action. Nokia says that the patents mentioned in Qualcomm's action are linked directly with the mobile phone standards as so-called essential patents, whose violation cannot result in an import ban.
     
The import ban imposed on the Qualcomm products involved patents other than essential patents.
      The ITC decided in February to indefinitely postpone the handling of the Qualcomm-Nokia case, but the decision was revoked in the summer. The commission will hear both sides in mid-September and a decision can be expected sometime in January.
      Nokia submitted another complaint to the ITC last week, alleging that Qualcomm is in violation of several Nokia 3G patents.
      The licensing agreement between the two companies expired in April, and since then, negotiations on a new agreement have been interspersed by a number of lawsuits.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nokia files another countersuit against Qualcomm (12.6.2007)
  Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo wants to take Nokia into Internet business (30.1.2007)

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