Since Christmas is approaching, you are expecting to see everybody making peace, not war. It seems that some patent issues can't be included in this pattern. The hard-breathing Nokia has just requested a ban of Blackberry gadgets produced by RIM, in three countries (US, UK and Canada), until the Canadian company would gently reconsider to renew its patent-licensing agreements.
Nokia Starts A Patent War With RIM
From the current information, it seems that the patents have to do with the 802.11 wireless LAN standard. According to Nokia representatives, RIM isn't authorized to manufacture or sell products compatible with the WLAN standard without first agreeing with the Finnish company on the royalty to be paid for those terminals.
The filing follows a nine-day arbitration before Sweden's Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, a body that acts as a neutral arbiter, but somehow failed to make those companies shake their hands as friends. Now, Nokia has asked a California court to enforce an arbitration award that would prevent Research In Motion from selling products with wireless LAN capabilities until the companies can agree on patent royalty rates.
Nokia Starts A Patent War With RIM
Back in 2003, Nokia and RIM agreed to a cross-license for standards-essential cellular patents, which was amended in 2008. Three years later, RIM sought arbitration, arguing that the license extended beyond cellular essentials. In November 2012, an arbitration tribunal ruled against RIM, clearly stating that the Canadian company isn't allowed to manufacture or sell WLAN products without first agreeing to pay royalties to Nokia. If Nokia representative were a little bit more talkative, RIM spokesmen are silent, saying that there will be no comment on pending litigation.
Why Nokia would have started a war against RIM, when both companies are struggling to survive? As you can remember, both Nokia and RIM had once been market leaders but lost in front of iPhone and Android-running smartphones. Nokia has committed to a new mobile operating system, Microsoft's Windows Phone, and vowed to make smarter fiscal use of its extensive patent portfolio. On the other hand, RIM has invested in an entirely new mobile platform, BlackBerry 10, which is finally scheduled for release on January 30. RIM is counting on the platform and the new smartphones including it, to recover its sinking ship, leaving the impression that will deal with Nokia ahead of January.
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