Nokia opens UPC account with Amazon, HP suits

Nokia sued Amazon at the Unified Patent Court as well as courts in the US, India, Germany and the UK today, October 31.

The Finnish telecoms company also filed a separate claim against HP in the US.

The lawsuits claim Amazon and HP’s streaming and multimedia devices infringe Nokia patents covering video compression, content delivery, content recommendation, and hardware features.

Nokia filed the UPC suits at the local division in Munich, which has quickly established itself as one of the most popular venues in the new system.

In a blog post, Arvin Patel, chief licensing officer for new segments at Nokia, said the Finnish company had been in talks with Amazon and HP for a “number of years” but was unable to agree terms.

“I want to stress that litigation is never our first choice. The vast majority of our patent licensing agreements are agreed amicably … but sometimes litigation is the only way to respond to companies who choose not to play by the rules followed and respected by others,” Patel wrote.

The allegedly infringed IP includes standard-essential patents and implementation patents.

In a statement, a Nokia spokesperson added the company was seeking royalties to reinvest in multimedia R&D.

“We hope that Amazon and HP will now accept their obligations and agree to a licence, and our door remains open for good-faith negotiations.”

Earlier this month, Nokia announced plans to cut up to 14,000 jobs by 2026 against the backdrop of poorer-than-expected 5G equipment sales.

Nokia Technologies, the division responsible for licensing the company’s IP, was the most profitable Nokia unit in Q3.

The company hasn’t confirmed how job cuts will be distributed across different divisions.

Nokia, which is currently fighting long-running disputes with Oppo and Vivo, has won several other high-profile patent disputes in recent years.

In April 2021, it struck a deal with Lenovo after winning an infringement suit in Munich.

Two months later, Nokia settled its litigation with German carmaker Daimler with a licensing deal.

Nokia also signed licences with Apple and Samsung, with no litigation, earlier this year.