Daimler loses patent dispute with Nokia and might end up with a sales ban for the Mercedes-Benz cars in Germany. Car makers in Europe are ever more dependent on the onboard connectivity technology.
The Finnish technology giant won the patent dispute in a local court. The judges in Mannheim ruled that, by using the company’s cellular technology without a license, Daimler violated Nokia’s patents. Following the decision, Mercedes-Benz loses the right to use the technology in its vehicles and must put an end to marketing them in Germany.
Bloomerg writes that such a decision will not be reached so easily. According to Bloomberg, if Nokia actually wants to impose a sales ban on the German car maker’s vehicles, it has to proceed a new litigation and to demand post collateral of €7 billion in order to enforce it. The amount of money would cover for the huge damages in case the injunction was overturned on appeal.
“We cannot understand the verdict of the Mannheim court and will appeal. We don’t assume there will be a sales ban”, Daimler reps optimistically stated.
Would Nokia go for a sales ban on the Mercedes-Benz cars?
The court in Mannheim motivated the decision due to the fact that Daimler was not willing to abide the rules. “The facts show that Daimler and its supporters in the case aren’t willing to take a license”, the court statement reads.
The auto group must now communicate to Nokia the exact number of vehicles that make use of the technology. Nokia would rather seek a fee per car rather than a sales ban.
The litigation is just an episode of the long-running series that puts car brands and tech companies face to face in the war of the royalties for technologies used in navigation system, in self-driving cars and vehicle communication.
Nokia makes €1.4 billon in licensing revenues every year, according to Reuters. Therefore a cheat from a car company would equals a solid loss for the Finns. President of Nokia Technologies, Jenni Lukander still hopes that “Daimler will now accept its obligations and take a license on fair terms”. Lukander is also trying to convince the luxury car maker that there is more to gain if they fight on the same team.
